“School kids will tell you it’s prevent your eyes from popping out, an urban legend – at least for the most part. There has been at least one report of this actually happening.
Dr. Rachel Vreeman, co-author of Don’t Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health says she discovered an 1882 story in the New York Times about a woman whose eyeball popped out (known as eyeball subluxing) after sneezing.
According to the story, published on April 30, 1882, a woman “met with a singular accident day before yesterday. While riding on a street car, she was seized with a sudden fit of sneezing and burst one of her eyeballs, from which she has since been suffering the most intense pain.”
Vreeman says there is no modern medical evidence of eyeball subluxing from sneezing, although she admits it has happened to people who violently vomit. Usually, though, this only happens to people who suffer from eye muscle problems.”- source from http://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/eye-popping-truth-about-why-we-close-our-eyes-when-f1C9321739
“Sneezes are involuntary. Small particles like pollen or dust float up your nose and irritate your membrane and it triggers a whole series of reactions. Or more technically when an irritant is in contact with your nasal mucosa it triggers the trigeminal nerve, which sends a signal that ends up in the lower part of the brain known as the medulla. Your chest expands in response, your lungs fill with air and then you sneeze everywhere. You actually sneeze around 5,000 droplets of mucus and air at speeds of up to 100mph (160kph).
Your eyelids shut down as part of that reaction, but it's one of science’s big mysteries as to why. We think it is an involuntary response, a reflex, like when your leg jerks after being tapped on the knee. What could be causing it? You may shut your eyelids so that when you sneeze out germs they don’t fall on your eyes. Or maybe your eyes shut because they are one of a series of muscles that tighten during that involuntary response.”-source from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131129-why-our-eyes-close-when-we-sneeze
“Before we get to the cold hard truth, let’s do some myth-busting: Once upon a time, on an elementary school playground far, far away, children claimed that if you sneezed with your eyes open, they would pop right out of your head. (Spoiler alert: This isn’t true.)
The bad news is that if your eyeballs were going to pop out of your head (called eyeball subluxation), there’s nothing your eyelids could do to stop them. They’re not strong enough, says University of Chicago Medicine professor Dr. Robert Naclerio.
The only reported case of eyeball subluxation due to sneezing occurred in 1882, to a woman who likely had eye muscle problems, according to Dr. Rachel Vreemon, co-author of “Don’t Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health.”
The good news is that, except for the Anonymous Sneezer of 1882, eyeball subluxation is very unlikely. Our eyes are firmly lodged in our noggins by six strong muscles.
So what’s the real reason most of us can’t sneeze without blinking? It’s nothing more than a reflex, thanks to the linkage of the eyes and nose by a cranial nerve which is stimulated during a sneeze.
- See more at: http://blog.zocdoc.com/why-do-we-close-our-eyes-when-we-sneeze-the-weird-science-of-daily-life/#sthash.SatJeFVt.dpuf”
So in the end, our eyes don’t pop out in when we sneeze with our eyes open. So why don’t we sneeze with our eyes open? You actually sneeze around 5,000 droplets of mucus and air at speeds of up to 100mph. We sneeze with our eyes closed because it is simply a reflex. Our eyes will not not pop out, thanks to the linkage of the eyes and nose by a cranial nerve which is stimulated during a sneeze.
Dr. Rachel Vreeman, co-author of Don’t Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health says she discovered an 1882 story in the New York Times about a woman whose eyeball popped out (known as eyeball subluxing) after sneezing.
According to the story, published on April 30, 1882, a woman “met with a singular accident day before yesterday. While riding on a street car, she was seized with a sudden fit of sneezing and burst one of her eyeballs, from which she has since been suffering the most intense pain.”
Vreeman says there is no modern medical evidence of eyeball subluxing from sneezing, although she admits it has happened to people who violently vomit. Usually, though, this only happens to people who suffer from eye muscle problems.”- source from http://www.nbcnews.com/health/body-odd/eye-popping-truth-about-why-we-close-our-eyes-when-f1C9321739
“Sneezes are involuntary. Small particles like pollen or dust float up your nose and irritate your membrane and it triggers a whole series of reactions. Or more technically when an irritant is in contact with your nasal mucosa it triggers the trigeminal nerve, which sends a signal that ends up in the lower part of the brain known as the medulla. Your chest expands in response, your lungs fill with air and then you sneeze everywhere. You actually sneeze around 5,000 droplets of mucus and air at speeds of up to 100mph (160kph).
Your eyelids shut down as part of that reaction, but it's one of science’s big mysteries as to why. We think it is an involuntary response, a reflex, like when your leg jerks after being tapped on the knee. What could be causing it? You may shut your eyelids so that when you sneeze out germs they don’t fall on your eyes. Or maybe your eyes shut because they are one of a series of muscles that tighten during that involuntary response.”-source from http://www.bbc.com/future/story/20131129-why-our-eyes-close-when-we-sneeze
“Before we get to the cold hard truth, let’s do some myth-busting: Once upon a time, on an elementary school playground far, far away, children claimed that if you sneezed with your eyes open, they would pop right out of your head. (Spoiler alert: This isn’t true.)
The bad news is that if your eyeballs were going to pop out of your head (called eyeball subluxation), there’s nothing your eyelids could do to stop them. They’re not strong enough, says University of Chicago Medicine professor Dr. Robert Naclerio.
The only reported case of eyeball subluxation due to sneezing occurred in 1882, to a woman who likely had eye muscle problems, according to Dr. Rachel Vreemon, co-author of “Don’t Swallow Your Gum! Myths, Half-Truths, and Outright Lies About Your Body and Health.”
The good news is that, except for the Anonymous Sneezer of 1882, eyeball subluxation is very unlikely. Our eyes are firmly lodged in our noggins by six strong muscles.
So what’s the real reason most of us can’t sneeze without blinking? It’s nothing more than a reflex, thanks to the linkage of the eyes and nose by a cranial nerve which is stimulated during a sneeze.
- See more at: http://blog.zocdoc.com/why-do-we-close-our-eyes-when-we-sneeze-the-weird-science-of-daily-life/#sthash.SatJeFVt.dpuf”
So in the end, our eyes don’t pop out in when we sneeze with our eyes open. So why don’t we sneeze with our eyes open? You actually sneeze around 5,000 droplets of mucus and air at speeds of up to 100mph. We sneeze with our eyes closed because it is simply a reflex. Our eyes will not not pop out, thanks to the linkage of the eyes and nose by a cranial nerve which is stimulated during a sneeze.