Sneezing

The question arises as to why you cannot keep your eyes open when you sneeze. Various explanations have been given but what is true and what is not?

Some say we close our eyes when we sneeze to keep them from popping out of our heads.
It is very unlikely you will ever sneeze hard enough to cause your eyes to pop out of socket.

Closing the eyes during a sneeze is a reflex similar to the one that occurs when your knee kicks after its hit with a medical hammer, or the way your hand pulls away from something hot when you burn it.

Closing your eyes when you sneeze is a powerful reflex and you can try and force yourself to keep your eyes open, but it is very hard to do.

Another folklore related to sneezing is that we close our eyes closed to keep the stuff we sneeze out from getting in our eyes.

This also is unlikely because the velocity of the sneeze causes the material to travel quite a distance.

The simple explanation is that it is a reflex and typically out of conscious control for the majority of people.

Gesundheit.