Ask Lemmy

Breathe out before the sneeze. It will be much less powerful when you aren't squeezing your maximum lung capacity out through your nose and mouth.

Sneeze into the fold of your elbow, instead of spraying around the room

Elbow is most hygienic. That said someone tell me how to sneeze when I've thrown out my back 😭

The way you sneeze is learned, so just make a conscious effort to change.

Also cover with your arm so you're sneezing into your elbow.

EVERYONE STOP TRYING TO HOLD IT IN!!!! The scream is because you’re using your vocal cords. Stop using them when you sneeze.

For example: -Say “ahhhhh” like a doctor is checking your throat. You’re using your vocal chords while exhaling

-Okay now just exhale. Now you’re NOT using your vocal cords.

That is the difference between using your vocal cords and not using them. You just have to not use your vocal cords when you sneeze to stop yelling.

My dad has the same issue and my girlfriend also had. I was able to help her, he is a lost cause.

But honestly it’s really basic. Just don’t yell while sneezing. Sneeze without vocalising at all. Even if it’s “strong”, it won’t be nearly as loud.

This is just like “muscle memory”. You one day started yelling while sneezing, and it became subconscious.

If you consciously try to not do it every time you sneeze, that too will become subconscious and “muscle memory”.

I’ve literally thrown my back out trying to suppress sneezes. I gave up trying years ago, I’m a scream sneezer through and through. Dracula barely helps but at least it’s more sanitary.

That thing you see in cartoons where they stop sneezes by putting a finger under the nose? Never seemed to work for me at first, but it turns out, it does work - you just have to push up against your septum, hard. It can at least diminish the urge slightly and maybe help you delay the sneeze so you can time it more conveniently.

I once sneezed so hard while lying down that my sock flew off.

Like you, I use a handkerchief. If I'm wearing a T, I might instead lift up the collar and sneeze down the front of my shirt. More gross for me but more hygienic for everyone else around. The third option is to drop into a crouch and sneeze into my elbow between my knees, funnelling it towards the floor.

I would rather do one big sneeze than lots of little sneezes, though.

Apparently deaf from birth people don't make any noise when they sneeze, as they've not heard anybody else do it so don't know they "should".^[I heard this from years ago; don't know how true it is] I'm not a particularly loud sneezer but it strikes me as odd that any noise at all would be learned behaviour.

Some people do make a lot of noise though, to the point where I'm thinking that it can't all be involuntary.

It's in and its gotta come out

I usually warn people that I'm about to sneeze so they're not shocked/surprised/scared.

Apparently you should be able to stop a sneeze by rubbing your tongue to the roof of your mouth. Never tried tho

I find it weird that the only way I can actually scream is thru a sneeze

Try lightly biting on the tip of your tongue when you feel the urge, it often goes away.

A friend cracked a ~~rub~~ rib by sneezing...

Nope, I still let out a massive 'AGH-HOOO' with every sneeze. I found the best was actually owning and using a handkerchief.

I tried to keep it on the low volume side, but it means I need to hold back a bit of my sneeze.

When I do hold back a little bit, it feels like my chest is hit by a train and it hurts like hell.

So I just live with the sound it makes, try to make it funnier for my kids, and put my mouth/nose into my elbow.