The fastest ways to make yourself sneeze involve stimulating the trigeminal nerve, a large facial nerve that runs through your nose, eyes, and mouth. When something irritates the endings of this nerve inside your nasal lining, your brain triggers a sneeze to expel the irritant. You can activate this same reflex on purpose using a few simple techniques, most of which work in seconds.
Why These Methods Work
Your nasal lining is packed with sensory nerve fibers that detect mechanical, thermal, and chemical stimuli. These fibers are branches of the trigeminal nerve, which also provides sensation to your forehead, cheeks, jaw, and the roof of your mouth. Because these areas share the same nerve network, stimulating one branch can sometimes trigger a response in another, including the sneeze reflex. That’s why something as seemingly unrelated as plucking an eyebrow hair can make you sneeze: your nose and eyebrows sit on the same branch of the trigeminal nerve.
Tickle the Roof of Your Mouth
Press the tip of your tongue against the roof of your mouth and slide it backward as far as you comfortably can. This stimulates the branch of the trigeminal nerve that runs along the top of your mouth. The exact sweet spot varies from person to person, so try different positions and pressures. Some people get results in a few seconds; others need to wiggle the tongue tip back and forth for a moment.
Use a Tissue to Tickle Your Nose
Roll the corner of a tissue into a thin point and gently insert it into one nostril. Twist it lightly or wiggle it against the inner wall of your nose. This directly irritates the nerve endings in the nasal lining, which is the most reliable way to trigger the reflex. Be gentle. You’re aiming for a light tickle, not enough pressure to cause discomfort or damage the delicate tissue inside your nose.
Look at a Bright Light
If you’ve ever walked outside on a sunny day and immediately sneezed, you may be one of the 15% to 30% of people with what’s called the photic sneeze reflex. It happens because of crossed wiring in the trigeminal nerve: when bright light hits your eyes and your pupils constrict, the signal spills over to the nasal branch of the same nerve, triggering a sneeze. Step from a dim room into bright sunlight, or glance toward (not directly at) a bright light. This only works if you’re genetically wired for it, but it’s worth a quick test.
Sniff a Mild Irritant
Black pepper is one of the most effective sneeze triggers available in any kitchen. It contains a compound called piperine that directly irritates the nerve endings inside the nasal lining. Your nose responds the only way it knows how: by sneezing to expel the irritant. Sprinkle a small amount of ground black pepper near your nose or gently sniff from a short distance. You don’t need much. Even a tiny amount of airborne pepper reaching the nasal lining is enough to set off the reflex.
White and green pepper contain piperine too and work the same way. Some people also find that sniffing strong spices like cumin or coriander does the trick, though they’re less potent than black pepper. Avoid inhaling large amounts of any powder, which can cause prolonged irritation or coughing.
Pluck an Eyebrow Hair
Grab a pair of tweezers and pluck a single hair from your eyebrow. The sharp tug stimulates nerve endings in the skin above your eye, and because that area shares a nerve branch with your nose, the signal can cross over and produce a sneeze. This works better for some people than others, and it tends to be most effective with the first pluck rather than repeated ones, since the nerve adapts quickly.
Breathe Cold Air
A sudden blast of cold air can stimulate the temperature-sensitive nerve fibers in your nasal passages. Try stepping outside into cold air and taking a sharp breath through your nose, or open a freezer door and inhale the cold draft. The temperature change doesn’t need to be extreme. Even moving from a warm room to a cooler hallway can sometimes be enough to trigger the reflex.
Combine Methods for Faster Results
If one technique alone doesn’t work, try stacking them. Look at a bright light while gently tickling the inside of your nose with a tissue, or sniff a pinch of pepper after breathing cold air. Because all of these methods target the same nerve through different branches, combining two or three at once increases the total stimulation reaching your brainstem’s sneeze center.
What Not to Do
Once you’ve triggered a sneeze, let it happen fully. Holding in or stifling a sneeze can force air and mucus into the tubes connecting your nose to your middle ear, potentially causing eardrum damage or ear infections. Holes in the eardrum from this kind of pressure sometimes require surgical repair. Suppressing a sneeze also pushes irritants back into your sinuses, which can lead to congestion or sinus infections. In rare cases, the sudden spike in pressure from a stifled sneeze has ruptured blood vessels in the head or neck.
Also avoid inserting anything sharp or rigid into your nose. Stick with soft materials like a tissue corner. And with pepper or other powders, keep the amount small. A light sniff is all you need. Inhaling a large cloud of powder will cause intense irritation, watery eyes, and a coughing fit that goes well beyond the single sneeze you were after.