# Sneezing, Crying, from squeezing my upper lip?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-crying-from-squeezing-my-upper-lip/243370>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [May 3, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-crying-from-squeezing-my-upper-lip/243370 "2004-05-03T23:44:29Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\
**Post date:** [May 3, 2004, 11:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-crying-from-squeezing-my-upper-lip/243370/1 "2004-05-03T23:44:29Z")

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😕😕😕

I’ve developed a pimple in my mustache, just below my left nostril. It’s one of the _hard_ ones, & I tried to squeeze it to pop it.

Suiddenly, I started sneezing, then tears streamed down my face.

_But it didn’t hurt!_😕

Then, my nose started running.

Why?

Why would squeezing the place between my nostril & my upper lip cause my eyes to suddenly tear? Or a sneezing fit to happen?

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**Author:** ![Eats\_Crayons](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/278dde/32.png) [@Eats\_Crayons](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Eats_Crayons)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-crying-from-squeezing-my-upper-lip/243370/2 "2004-05-04T00:59:08Z")

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Look up Cecil’s columns on things like “why does your nose run when you cry?” and the “walking into sunlight makes you sneeze” phenomenon. IIRC, i has to do with there being a whole whack of nerves in the front of your face, so stimulating one bit can inadvertantly trigger a bunch of somewhat unrelated bits.

Ah, from Cecil’s sunlight thingy:

> [@The Great Master Cecil](#):
>
> that you’ve got a lot of nerves crammed together in the front of your head, and maybe there can can be leakage of sorts from one nerve pathway to another. So perhaps the reflex is just a case of congenitally crossed signals.

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**Author:** ![choosybeggar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8c91f0/32.png) [@choosybeggar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/choosybeggar)\
**Post date:** [May 4, 2004, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sneezing-crying-from-squeezing-my-upper-lip/243370/3 "2004-05-04T02:50:41Z")

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> [@Bosda Di'Chi of Tricor](#):
>
> 😕😕😕
> 
> I’ve developed a pimple in my mustache, just below my left nostril. It’s one of the _hard_ ones, & I tried to squeeze it to pop it.
> 
> Suiddenly, I started sneezing, then tears streamed down my face.
> 
> _But it didn’t hurt!_😕
> 
> Then, my nose started running.
> 
> Why?
> 
> Why would squeezing the place between my nostril & my upper lip cause my eyes to suddenly tear? Or a sneezing fit to happen?

Don’t know the specifics regarding the sneezing or tearing bit (though I’ve experienced similar reactions pulling a nostril hair). So far as the nose running goes, though, this happens whenever the eyes tear (to a greater or lesser degree). Tears leave the eye by a canal at its medial border and empty into the nose.