Why can't we sneeze with our eyes open?!
Question:
Why can't we sneeze with our eyes open?
I try and never can pull it off, i just look scary!
Answers:
Hm... That is a good question. And a hard one to find a straight answer for. Hope this helps. :o)
1. You cannot sneeze with your eyes open. Funny as it sounds, it is true. You might think that you’re closing your eyes at will when you sneeze and you could do it without closing them, but you actually can’t. The process of sneezing is designed in such a way that it is impossible to have a sneeze unless you blink, even if it only takes a split second.
2.Sneezing is a complex reflex
A sneeze starts with irritation of the lining of the nose, and ends in an explosion of air from the nose and mouth. Nerve impulses travel from the nose to the brain, then back to other nerves that control the muscle of the abdomen, chest, diaphragm, neck, face and eyelids as well as the mucus glands and blood vessels of the nose. That’s why we usually end up closing our eyes when we sneeze, and why the nose often runs afterwards. In people with allergies, histamine irritates nerve endings (triggering sneeze and itch), makes bloods vessels in the nose swell and leak fluid (blocked nose) and drives mucus glands to work harder (runny nose). That is why antihistamines can help allergies. Nasal steroid sprays are also used for treatment of sneezing due to allergies, as they reduce inflammation.