The first time I noticed the relation between an incomplete sneeze and sinus pain was a few weeks ago — when the weather was a bit cold and dry here in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.

Here’s how it happened: you know how before you sneeze you inhale deeply and involuntarily? I did that but the sneeze didn’t come through. The inhaled air was trapped inside. After this happened, I felt a lot of painful sinus pressure.

I thought inducing another sneeze might relieve the pressure. By inserting a tissue in my nose I was able to induce a good satisfying sneeze. But the sinus pain persisted. The next day, I got a nasty, nasty cold with severe sinus pain. It was a sinus infection / cold, I think…

Fast forward to a few days ago. I had another aborted sneeze, similar to the one I described earlier. After this one, too, I got a nasty headache — for an entire day.

Here’s my theory to explain the relation between aborted sneezes and sinus infection.

I think if you allow yourself to inhale a lot of air into your sinuses as you are about to sneeze and then you don’t sneeze it out, the air gets trapped in your sinuses. And then your sinuses get infected by the dirt and germs in that air.

The solution is to not inhale deeply when you’re going to sneeze. Don’t try to assist your sneezes by taking-in a lot of air. Let the sneeze force itself on you. That way, you’ll only get complete and sincere sneezes.

But those sneezes that abort even before inhalation, they happen for a reason. There’s probably something that’s irritating your nose. So, help your body out by massaging your nose or something to get rid of the irritation inside it.