Why does squeezing pimples make me sneeze?

February 23, 2006 5:36 PM

Why do I sneeze when I squeeze my pimples?

They don't have to be near my nose, just anywhere on my face, really. Everytime I squeeze a zit - sometimes even just applying pressure to the area does it - I sneeze three, maybe four times. Why does it happen and does it happen to anyone else?

posted by bunglin jones to Health & Fitness (17 answers total)

For some people it also happens when plucking their eyebrows, picking their nose, or doing anything that causes your nostrils to tingle and your eyes to water.
posted by Brittanie at 5:55 PM on February 23, 2006

Try holding your breath and see if it still happens. We can breath in a specific way that can trigger sneezes in folks. Expectation of pain, onset of sleep, and a few other things can cause the breathing to change to this pattern and trigger the sneezes.
posted by jwells at 6:02 PM on February 23, 2006

Brittanie may be on to somethng - I always sneeze when I pluck my eyebrows - never knew why.
posted by ersatzkat at 6:06 PM on February 23, 2006

I think it may have something to do with contriction of the sinuses in response to the stimulus of pain. Curiously, looking at the sun does the same thing to me.
posted by Kafkaesque at 6:43 PM on February 23, 2006

I always cough when I clean my ears. I wonder if it's related.
posted by Astro Zombie at 6:51 PM on February 23, 2006

Kafkaesque, I do as well, there is a specfic word for that I use to know.
posted by edgeways at 7:30 PM on February 23, 2006

I'm a sun-sneezer like Kafkaesque. Looking directly at lights sometimes does it, too. So maybe Brittanie is onto something with the link between watery eyes and sneezing.
posted by robcorr at 7:31 PM on February 23, 2006

edgeways: could it be Achoo syndrome? (Which sounds like me -- I always sun-sneeze in multiples.)
posted by robcorr at 7:36 PM on February 23, 2006

From edgeways' link on Achoo Syndrome: "Several instances of male-to-male transmission were noted."

Make your own joke.
posted by etc. at 8:00 PM on February 23, 2006

Referal sensation would be my guess.

Nerves don't just go from nerve ending --> spine --> brain. Lots of nerves (especially around the face) re-route at the spine and the signal splits in addition to going to the brain, goes back to another nerve ending --> spine --> brain. The nose is pretty nerve ending-dense.

Aside from the nose, does one of your toes (oor pick random location) ever tingle if you scratch, say, the inside of your elbow (or pick random location)?
posted by PurplePorpoise at 8:15 PM on February 23, 2006

Sign me up as someone who sneezes when they pluck their eyebrows...I've always thought I was alone in this. It's nice to know there are others out there!
posted by kechi at 8:29 PM on February 23, 2006

I sneeze when I pluck my eyebrows and also when I pop my zits. It's a pretty gross time in front of the bathroom mirror.

I've never understood sun-sneezing.
posted by kendrak at 8:49 PM on February 23, 2006

When I pluck my eyebrows, I don't sneeze -- but the eye beneath the eyebrow I'm plucking starts to water. Not both eyes, just one at a time. What makes it even weirder is that it's not from pain -- plucking doesn't hurt me. I guess facial wiring is weird.
posted by booksandlibretti at 9:06 PM on February 23, 2006

Rubbing the bridge of my nose makes me sneeze.
posted by eighth_excerpt at 9:13 PM on February 23, 2006

I sneeze when I think dirty thoughts.
posted by matkline at 11:11 PM on February 23, 2006

I always sneeze when I write poetry. I just assumed I was allergic to bad writing.
posted by Apoch at 12:46 AM on February 24, 2006

Sun does it for me. Sun + soda is like a neutron bomb. I had read that blue-eyed devils were more susceptible to sneezing due to light.
posted by yerfatma at 4:16 AM on February 24, 2006