To some, sneezing in their sleep may seem like a strange thing. For others, this is a common occurrence. What made your nose so active at night? A doctor explains how you can sneeze in your sleep, why it happens and what you can do to stop it.

To answer the most important question, yes, you can sneeze in your sleep, but only in its earliest stages, according to Eric Ascher, a family medicine physician at Lenox Hill Hospital.

"When you go into the deepest phase of sleep, you do not have the ability to sneeze," he says. "The nerves that make you sneeze are also at rest."

However, there is a chance that you sneeze even in the deepest stages of sleep.

"Sometimes a stimulant can wake you up from a deep stage of sleep and make you sneeze," adds Dr Ascher. "But at that moment you are awake - not because of sneezing - but because of the irritant that made you sneeze. This is common in those with allergies or a bad cold."

So which stimulants can cause sneezing in sleep? 

First of all, consider what kind of irritants you have in your bedroom or wherever you sleep, which can wake you up. Is it dust or are the sheets new? Consider finding and removing environmental causes. 

If sleep sneezing becomes problematic at night, talk to a doctor to do the relevant allergy tests.

Source: Men's Health