Why do we close our eyes wile sneeze?
469034
Because otherwise some 'thing' in your eyes will get damaged by the fastness of a sneeze, and therefore the eyelids react with shutting when sneezing.\nDon't really remember more than that, I read it 3 years ago somewhere... :S
376602
Whenever I look at the sun (not often, be assured) I don't seem to feel any sudden sneezes coming on. Perhaps your sinuses are shaped as to when you tilt your head back, you trigger a sneeze? Maybe it's temporary, because of a cold or bad sinuses or allergies.\n\nYou should try looking into the sun (not for very long) in the morning or evening when you don't have to tilt your head and see what happens.
358753
Mechanism of sneezing - Normally, sneezing is an involuntary reflex, which is controlled by a complex interaction of nerve fibres. A variety of receptor sites, situated in the nose, reports about the irritation or foreign substance to the brain for inducing sneezing by releasing histamine, for clearing the nose. Receptors are sensitive to infection, touch, smells of dust, chemical gases, fumes, temperature and exposure to extreme cold air and water (the main offender). Usually, sneeze begins with a deep inspiration and closed glottis, which suddenly opens after gaining pressure from contraction of the diaphragm, abdomen muscles and other muscles which compress the lungs to let out the trapped air with force through nose and mouth. So with an explosive sound, throw of air occurs as a sneeze. Sneezing also involves contraction of the muscles of face, neck and eyes. Sometimes, sneezing air speed is measured more than 120 km/per hour. Normally, people sneeze once or twice during early morning or daytime to clear the nose.\n\nFor more info, go to the source...
1049826
It is a superstition.  People used to believe that the devil could enter you when you sneezed.  God Bless You was a way for others to try to help prevent that.
436876
Sneezing in sleep occurs only when you are about fall asleep and about to wake up but when you are not aware of it. In other  words, due to your breathing rhythm, you can not sneeze in the REM states. For further information please refer to;\n\nhttp://www.anderson-college.edu/ pdf/documents/Healthservice.pdf
320133
Not an expert, but it seems to be a kind of reflex action in a small percentage of people. If you experience the "sun sneeze" the same way that I do, it only occurs if I look skyward or toward the bright light of the sun.  If  I look away, I lose the urge to sneeze.  My best guess is that it may be a crossed wire of sorts in some people where an overload of the visual senses creates a reaction.  Since it is impossible to keep your eyes open during a sneeze, it could be that this reaction is the body's attempt to protect your eyes from exposure to the intense light.
1165185
yes.  you sneeze when something irritates your inner nose.  all that happens is that a little piece of dust gets in the wrong place, and you wake up sneezing--but this does not happen very often.  it is very rare
224264
Sorry, we don’t know why most people close their eyes when sneezing. Not all do. \n\nSome experts guess that we’ve evolved closing eyes to reduce sneeze spray landing in our eyes. However, our eyes are exposed constantly to bacteria and viruses and have good defenses without eye closing.\n\nClosing eyes (or keeping them open) is part of the sneeze reflex. It’s a reflex—meaning we have no conscious control of sneezes. Instead, the primitive part of the brain (called the medulla oblongata and located at the top of the spine) calls the shots. The reflex triggers major muscles of face, throat, and chest to fire out gunk going at 100 mph (150 kph) as fast as a pitcher’s fastball.\n\nMost people tighten the eye muscles, causing them to shut, as they tighten the other muscles involved in a sneeze. But not all do. Some sneeze with their eyes open. Either way, it’s part of the inborn sneeze reflex.\n\nIn 1888, Thomas Edison hit upon the idea of movies from looking at sequential pictures of someone sneezing
853475
Sneezing contracts a lot of the muscles in your face, including the ones controlling your eyelids.\n\nAs for the people answering with the popping eyeballs: LOL!
370361
Probably because your face contorts (even if only slightly when the light source is mild), and that adds to the irritation in your nostril, triggering off a sneeze.
309689
it helps prevent (doesnt completely block) the germs from flying over the entire room or onto other people around you, but do know that if you dont wash your hands right after sneezing you are spreading the germs that are then on your hand.  it is reccomended to sneeze into a tissue or a handkerchief to prevent the spreading of germs.
789205
YA:\n-Cover your mouth and your nose\n- Sometimes hold your nose so you dont get this really loud sneeze!\n- And try not to make it noticable in public!\nHope i helped!
99483
You are sneezing for a reason.  Just let the sneeze happen so the offending materials can be effectively eliminated.
442983
Pretty much the same reason people sneeze when they get a cold: it's one of the mechanisms the body uses to get rid of infection, poison or other bad elements.  With a cold, of course, the infection is in the respiratory system; with diarrhea and/or vomiting, the problem is in the gastrointestinal tract.  It's your body's way of "evacuating the building" so your antibodies and other immune mechanisms have a better chance of conquering the infection.\n\nThere can be other reasons for diarrhea, however.  One is where you have eaten something which for some reason your body isn't equipped to digest properly.  There are also some GI diseases where your digestive system isn't working the way it should.  One such disease is called Irritable Bowel Syndrome, where your digestive system is overly sensitive to irritants.  Stress is another thing which can cause temporary diarrhea.
327835
Due to the pressure in your cranium your eyes would be pressurized slightly. There would be a slight bulging of your eyes from your head which is actually what happens normally when you sneeze, however your eyes would stay in just as they normally do. The closing of your eyes is just to maintain some extra support to keep the muscles and nerves which hold your eyes in from having to do as much work.\n\nWithout the eyelid, the many eye muscles and optical nerve would do a fine job keeping the eyes in.\n\nIf you've seen Ripley's or Guinness Book of World Records, and you've seen the people that push their eyes out of their heads really far, you'd realize that you dont have to worry because your eyes can handle a lot.
5028
Superstition had it that at the moment of a sneeze, all thoughts are momentarily banished from the concious mind, leaving an opening for the Devil to get in. I think it goes back to the second century.
960883
'It is unclear, but scientists theorize that we close our eyes when we sneeze to protect them. We may be protecting our eyes from microorganisms and particles from our sneezes," But it could also be simply because a sneeze is a kind of bodywide reflex in which a lot of muscles contract, not just in the nose and throat but also those in the diaphragm, the abdomen, thighs, back, even sphincters (which is why some people with stress incontinence may urinate slightly when they sneeze).\n\nResearchers aren't sure exactly why the sneeze reflex happens, but whatever neurological message tells the eyes to close probably comes from a primitive part of the brain called the medulla oblongata in the brain stem.  And, it's not just an irritation in the nose that can trigger a sneeze; some people, probably because of genetics, have a photic reflex, which makes them sneeze in response to sudden, bright light.\n\nAnd, in case you were wondering about that old wives' tale about the heart skipping a beat when you sneeze, rest assured: It doesn't, though it may pause for a fraction of a second before resuming its normal rhythm.  That pause is believed to occur due to a change in intra-thoracic pressure, or pressure in the chest, when you sneeze. That pressure may stimulate the vagus nerve, which in turn slows the heart rate down for a brief moment.\n\nThis is not dangerous.   But it's believed that people began saying ''God bless you" when a person sneezes because they believed that, in that brief moment, you were between heaven and hell, and, if you were blessed, you'd be saved from damnation.