Can You Sneeze With Your Eyes Open? 6 Reflexes Explained
You can sneeze with your eyes open, but almost nobody pulls it off. We go through six of the body's reflexes, what the studies say about them, and the case of an Iowa farmer who had hiccups for 68 years straight.
Why do we close our eyes when we sneeze?
Closing your eyes is part of the sneeze itself. The brainstem activates the diaphragm, chest, throat and eyelids all at once. It works like a single switch that turns on every light in the house at the same time.
That's why it's so hard to keep your eyes open. And no, your eyes wouldn't pop out: they're held in place by muscles inside the eye socket. Most likely, the blink serves to protect them from droplets.
How fast does a sneeze travel?
A claim circulating online says a sneeze comes out at 160 kilometers per hour. However, a 2013 study using high-speed cameras measured about 16 kilometers per hour.
What does stand out is the range. According to Lydia Bourouiba of MIT, in 2020, the cloud of droplets can reach seven or eight meters.
Sneezing at the sun: the photic sneeze reflex
If you sneeze when you come out of a tunnel into bright sunlight, you have the photic sneeze reflex. According to various studies, it affects between 18% and 35% of people. It also tends to run in families.
The most widely cited hypothesis is that signals from the optic nerve cross over with those of the trigeminal nerve, which carries sensations from the nose. It's like a poorly insulated wire: the flash of light jumps to the neighboring wire, and the brain interprets it as an itch.
Coughing when you clean your ear: Arnold's reflex
Some people cough when they put a cotton swab in their ear. This is called Arnold's reflex, and it affects roughly 2% of adults.
The cause lies in the vagus nerve, which carries cough signals. One of its branches reaches the skin of the ear canal. When that skin is touched, the brain receives a message from the wrong sender and reacts as if something were touching the throat.
Why a fever starts with chills
A fever doesn't start with heat but with chills. The hypothalamus works like a home thermostat. An infection triggers prostaglandin E2, which raises the target temperature to, say, 39 degrees.
Since the body is still at 37 degrees, it thinks it's cold and turns on the heating: the muscles shiver to generate heat. Goosebumps also appear, a leftover from when our ancestors raised their hair to trap warm air.
When the fever breaks, the thermostat returns to 37 degrees and the body sweats to get rid of the excess heat.
What hiccups are, and the case of Charles Osborne
A hiccup is a spasm of the diaphragm accompanied by a sudden closing of the glottis. That closure is what produces the sound. Hiccups begin before birth: fetuses already have them in the womb.
There are two hypotheses about their origin. One, from 2003, links them to tadpoles, which use a similar movement to pump water over their gills. Another, from University College London in 2019, proposes that in newborns each hiccup teaches the brain to control breathing.
No home remedy, from a sudden scare to a glass of water, has solid evidence behind it. Hiccups normally stop within a few minutes.
Charles Osborne's didn't. In 1922, in Anthon, Iowa, he was trying to lift a hog weighing about 160 kilos when he collapsed. That day he started hiccuping: at first about 40 times a minute, and over the years about 20. Guinness estimated around 430 million hiccups. He married twice and had eight children without ever stopping.
His doctors believed the strain had ruptured a small blood vessel in his brainstem, the area that suppresses this reflex. The fault wasn't in the diaphragm but in the switch. In 1990 the hiccups went away on their own. He died the following year.
Frequently asked questions
Can your eyes pop out if you sneeze with them open?
No. Your eyes are held in place by muscles inside the eye socket. Blinking probably serves to protect them from droplets.
Why do some people sneeze when they look at the sun?
Because of the photic sneeze reflex, which affects between 18% and 35% of people. The most widely cited hypothesis is that signals from the optic nerve cross over with those of the trigeminal nerve.
Do home remedies for hiccups work?
None has solid evidence behind it, neither a sudden scare nor a glass of water. Hiccups normally go away within minutes.
How long did Charles Osborne's hiccups last?
68 years, from 1922 to 1990. Guinness estimated around 430 million hiccups.
Informative article written with the help of AI tools from the verified script of the video. The video is in Spanish.