Whether you like it or not, when you sneeze, you are “blind” for a moment. Because when you sneeze, you automatically close your eyes. Even if you consciously tried to keep your eyes open, you would not succeed. This is because sneezing and closing the eyes at the same time is a natural physical reflex. The sneezing reflex can be triggered by foreign bodies or inflammation of the nasal mucosa, but also by looking into bright light.
How sneezing works
If a speck of dust gets into the nose, for example, it irritates sensory cells there. These, in turn, activate the autonomic nervous system in the spinal cord, which is the control cell for reflexes: A signal causes a movement impulse in the diaphragm, whose muscles clench air and send it into the sinus. There, air pressure is created, which is discharged like an explosion when we sneeze. Since closing the eyes is also a reflex, there is nothing you can do about it.
Sense or nonsense
To this day, it is not known exactly what this reflex is supposed to be good for. One assumes that possibly by closing the eyelids the eyes are to be protected against overpressure, because with sneezing a large pressure develops. However, it is more likely that closing the eyes is simply to prevent bacteria or viruses contained in the nasal secretion from entering the eyes.
In any case, the sneezing reflex can even have unpleasant consequences in certain cases: Because closed eyes after a repeated sneezing attack, for example, could well lead to accidents when driving. Allergy sufferers are said to have an up to 30 percent higher risk of accidents in road traffic than healthy people. Violent sneezing and watery eyes are not only annoying, but could also become a safety risk, warns Erhard Hackler, managing director of the German Skin and Allergy Aid. While the driver sneezes into the handkerchief, the car covers many meters in the blind flight. But “snuff noses” should better stay in bed anyway.
