• Question: What happens inside you when you sneeze and why cant you sneeze with your eyes open ????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

    Asked by potatoe to Cat, Daz, Holly, Johnson, Pamela on 16 Jun 2011.
    • Photo: Cat O'Connor

      Cat O'Connor answered on 15 Jun 2011:

      Cat

      Hi Potatoe…..yummmmmmm chips (sorry I’m starving!)

      A sneeze is really just a huge gush of air that comes out of your lungs and through your nose and mouth with often some very sticky consequences! What causes us to sneeze can be anything from something tickling our nose, to bright sunlight or even and infection! The reaction to sunlight and infection happen because of their effect on nerves.

      Have you ever tried to keep your eyes open when you sneeze? We always make the funniest face when we try to do it. You can actually still sneeze if your eyes are open, but its very hard to try and do so! I’ve never tried if Iā€™m honest! The reason why we can’t do it is that the impulses that make us sneeze also cause a couple of other things to happen such as our eyes blink and also for our tummy muscles to contract!

      I say, if your body wants to do it, go for it!!!

      Hope this answers your question,

      Cat

    • Photo: Darren Braddick

      Darren Braddick answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hi potatoe,

      I’m not sure! Cat’s answer is good. The sneeze is a very powerful thing involving many muscles.. It’s a very physical thing! I expect that the large number of facial muscles used to produce the sneeze just happen to include ones near the eyes, causing an impulse to close them. There are similar impulses when you have other powerful things like being sick, or hiccups.

      Of course, sometimes maybe it’s a good thing your eyes aren’t open, because the consequence of sneezing is rarely worth seeing, right?

      I hope that helps!

      Daz

    • Photo: Pamela Lithgow

      Pamela Lithgow answered on 16 Jun 2011:

      Hi Potatoe,
      Two very good answers already here but I wanted to add that apparently you CAN keep your eyes open when you sneeze. It is your bodies normal impluse to close your eyes but I saw a mythbusters where they managed to sneeze with there eyes open “BUSTED” as they would say! I will add that it took them lots of attempts to keep their eyes open whilst sneezing as the bodies impulse is very strong and you probably shouldn’t try it but I thought I would tell you that it is possible.
      Pam šŸ™‚

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