Comments on: Why the post-sneeze sweet smell?

Question: Why the post-sneeze sweet smell?

cortex — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:25:58 -0800

What's that sweet post-sneeze smell I smell?

Often times after I sneeze, especially after a good nose-clearer, I get a brief smell sensation that I can best describe as being "sweet." (Perhaps a little floral? It's very difficult to put it into words.)

It doesn't last long -- between sneezing just now and endeavoring to post this, it's gone already -- and the odor/sensation is very consistent from sneeze to sneeze over a period of years.

What the heck is this? Is it some olfactory illusion from over-compensation for some anti-this-odor component in my snot? Does this happen to other people?

From the archives: abcde smells something metallic in this thread; no, I don't see sparks when it happens.

By: Clay201

Clay201 — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:30:58 -0800

I also experience this. I thought I was the only one. Wow.

By: Sonic_Molson

Sonic_Molson — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:35:11 -0800

definitely doesn't happen to me.

By: footnote

footnote — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:43:49 -0800

snot?

By: idiotfactory

idiotfactory — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:47:41 -0800

I always smell copper.
Maybe you are smelling yourself.

By: mischief

mischief — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:49:53 -0800

After sneezing, I often get a whiff of fresh air, even when the room is filled with cigarette smoke (damn roommate!). I have attributed it to nasal sensory pads getting over-stimulated after a period of dormancy.

Thankfully, it's not the smell of having crapped myself.

By: cortex

cortex — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 15:56:04 -0800

Clay201: cool! Co-freaks!

idiotfactory: if I was smelling myself, "sweet" is probably not the word I would come up with.

mischief: it seems to happen in a wide variety of environments, so while the over-stimulation idea is intriguing I doubt the specific, static odor I sense belongs to the environment in which I'm sneezing.

By: willpie

willpie — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 16:01:05 -0800

I, too, get a distinct post-sneeze smell. Don't know how I would describe it, but it's not unpleasant.
When I exercise myself to exhaustion (which doesn't happen much these days), I frequently smell a really bad smell that seems familiar, but I can't place or describe it, either.

By: LimePi

LimePi — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 16:05:46 -0800

I've also noticed the same thing. It's a very particular, odd smell, and it doesn't always accompany a sneeze for me. One website suggests it's sinusitis, but I'm not entirely conviced.

By: Rubber Soul

Rubber Soul — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 16:13:16 -0800

Is this a different smell than the usual post-sneeze smell? I thought the 'smell of a sneeze' was something everyone had experienced. I attributed it to the fine mist of saliva and/or nasal moisture expelled by a good sneeze, since it doesn't happen if you stifle the sneeze. And when someone else sneezes, you can smell it (in a closed car for example) so I don't think it's triggered by the sneeze itself. Or are you talking about something completely different?

As an aside, I'd like to know what the actual aroma compound is. An apartment we moved into once had an area of carpet which smelled just like this. It was dry and unmarked but the smell lingered for months.

By: sergeant sandwich

sergeant sandwich — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 17:28:30 -0800

i smell that smell after sneezing, too. and as an additional data point, one time i was standing in a line at an airport, and this guy next to me sneezed, and i smelled it again. so it's not just some neuronal effect brought on by your own sneeze- it's something actually produced in the atmosphere.

and boy, do i ever know how gross it is that i smelled some other dude's sneeze. ick.

By: ubersturm

ubersturm — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 17:41:41 -0800

Happens to me too, cortex, although I have no idea why.

By: Mom

Mom — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 18:00:08 -0800

I get that sometimes. Maybe the force of a good sneeze stimulates the smell receptors and generates the sensation of smell?

By: johnj

johnj — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 19:10:53 -0800

Never got that myself.I will have to pay better attention.

By: soundslikeobiwan

soundslikeobiwan — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:22:46 -0800

I smell dust. Or maybe copper, like idiotfactory. Hard to describe, but definitely not flowers.

By: srah

srah — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 21:27:52 -0800

I've never been able to figure it out for sure, but it's been one of the most popular discussions on my blog for a few years now - and one of the big things that brings people in from search engines! There are plenty of theories here and here.

By: abcde

abcde — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 22:49:21 -0800

It smells like pennies. And pennies smell like the head on beer tastes.

I sense a conspiracy.

By: abcde

abcde — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 22:50:36 -0800

Ech, my post is ridiculously moot when I see I was cited in the post. I am definitely skimming too much, it's bedtime.

By: PurplePorpoise

PurplePorpoise — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 23:08:33 -0800

Umami?

Snot contains a lot of mucosal protiens as well as all the microorganisms that have been trapped by your mucus, in addition to sloughed off cells from your own body. Hydrolized yeast extract" is an euphemism word for MSG...

Sneezing will also aerosolize a lot of mucus & the stuff that's trapped in mucus and sneezing can also clear some of the molecules that have been stuck to your olfactory receptors.

In some people, odours emited from people with a dissimilar (but not dissimilar enough) genotype can be interpreted as"sweet" smelling, and self-odours sometimes fall into the same category - clearing the olfactory receptors could possibly re-prime them to recognize molecules that they've become angergized to.

...

Just hypothesizing here, though..

By: Skyanth

Skyanth — Thu, 08 Sep 2005 23:36:44 -0800

Ooh I have it too! Only it's not a pleasant smell. It's bad breath-like and I'm glad it's gone every time. It's not actually to do with bad breath though, I think, because sometimes it doesn't happen, or only after one sneeze and not the next. And I've asked people and I don't have bad breath. I always thought it's because the inside of people is just icky and some of it comes out when you sneeze...

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 11:34:38 -0800

Umami is nothing like 'sweet'. You can buy pure MSG at the supermarket, and taste it. I did so and discovered the flavor was very familiar.

By: delmoi

delmoi — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 11:35:27 -0800

Also, I've never smelled a sneez.

By: crabintheocean

crabintheocean — Fri, 09 Sep 2005 11:52:16 -0800

Totally. I think it smells like pollen, floral but not. I also get it if I get bumped on the nose, rub my nose too hard etc. I get other smells coming from (I think) my sinuses on other occasions, but this one is really distinctive. I would love to know what it is.

By: AmbroseChapel

AmbroseChapel — Sun, 11 Sep 2005 03:04:47 -0800

I get this, and it smells like hay to me (am I the only person answering this question who's rural enough to know what hay smells like?). Pollen would be close too. It doesn't happen every time.