# Why can't we keep our eyes open when sneezing? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [October 24, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005 "2009-10-24T21:49:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 15\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 9:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/1 "2009-10-24T21:49:26Z")
I believe that some traits we inherit are simply random and don’t necessarily confer on us a greater liklihood of finding a mate or surviving longer. Maybe that’s the explanation of the coupling of those two events: sneezing and closing one’s eyes. Would there be some reasonable evolutionary advantage to this phenomenon? Or is it most likely one of those hangers-on that just _is_? ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_T](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Gary\_T](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_T)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 10:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/2 "2009-10-24T22:40:16Z")
[Cecil says](http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/528/if-you-hold-your-eyelids-open-while-sneezing-will-your-eyes-pop-out): “Also, not to quibble, but it’s just about impossible to hold your eyelids open while you sneeze. They snap shut by reflex. The reflex serves no purpose, so far as anybody knows; it’s just the way you’re wired up. The nerves serving the eyes and the nose are closely intertwined, and stimuli to the one often trigger some response in the other.” ---
**Author:** ![Jormungandr](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a6a055/32.png) [@Jormungandr](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jormungandr)\ **Post date:** [October 24, 2009, 11:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/3 "2009-10-24T23:21:22Z")
There doesn’t seem to be any harm to sneezing with them open. Adam Savage of Mythbusters did it by holding them open with his fingers. [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/6D5fJYHbK7k/hqdefault.jpg "Will Your Eyeballs Fall Out From Sneezing?") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6D5fJYHbK7k) ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [October 25, 2009, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/4 "2009-10-25T23:10:43Z")
I’ve done it, too, and didn’t have any problems either. ---
**Author:** ![Kintalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bc8723/32.png) [@Kintalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kintalis)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/5 "2009-10-26T01:55:40Z")
Guess I’m wired weird… I can keep mine open in a sneeze without holding them. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 1:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/6 "2009-10-26T13:31:34Z")
> [@CC](#): > > Would there be some reasonable evolutionary advantage to this phenomenon? Or is it most likely one of those hangers-on that just _is_? Anyone have any ideas about the original question? ---
**Author:** ![pan1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/e495f1/32.png) [@pan1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pan1)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 1:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/7 "2009-10-26T13:42:28Z")
Isn’t the point of the sneeze to clear the nasal passages of some irritant (usually mucous)? That said, wouldn’t having two exit paths for the air diminish the force that a single path offers? So we close the eyes seal that path, forcing all the air out the front with maximum wind power. Its been a little disturbing and slightly gross the one or two times I’ve sneezed without closing my eyes. Stuff should not come out the tear ducts with any velocity - it’s just not right when it happens. ---
**Author:** ![CC](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f1d935/32.png) [@CC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CC)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/8 "2009-10-26T14:41:41Z")
Ah, excellent hypothesis. That’s what I was looking for. By the way, I don’t think that it’s actually the tear ducts that exude material when that happens to you. Tear ducts are exits from tear producing glands. But, as you suggest, there _is_ a drain tube (don’t know what its actual name is) that connects the eyes with the nose. And shutting that should, in fact, make a sneeze more efficient. I like that theory. ---
**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 3:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/9 "2009-10-26T15:03:55Z")
[http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2004/06/15/why\_do\_my\_eyes\_close\_every\_time\_i\_sneeze/](http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2004/06/15/why_do_my_eyes_close_every_time_i_sneeze/) The lacrimal glands have [excretory ducts;](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrimal_apparatus) the eye is connected to the nasal cavity via the [nasolacrimal duct,](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nasolacrimal_duct) sometimes called the tear duct. ---
**Author:** ![Daerlyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/898d66/32.png) [@Daerlyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daerlyn)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2009, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/10 "2009-10-26T22:02:05Z")
Which explains why I occasionally have goo coming out of my eye when I blow my nose really hard. Hurts like hell, so I usually block that duct with my finger when blowing. ---
**Author:** ![SenorBeef](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senorbeef/32/2220_2.png) [@SenorBeef](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SenorBeef)\ **Post date:** [October 28, 2009, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/11 "2009-10-28T03:14:00Z")
Guess: Your nose traps germs before they can get into your system, and forcefully ejects them. Open eyes are a vector for viruses and bacteria to get into your system. So you shut your eyes to make sure none of the stuff you’re spraying is going into your eyes and getting a shot at getting in. ---
**Author:** ![glowacks](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/glowacks/32/5548_2.png) [@glowacks](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/glowacks)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/12 "2009-10-29T21:23:36Z")
> [@pan1](#): > > Isn’t the point of the sneeze to clear the nasal passages of some irritant (usually mucous)? > That said, wouldn’t having two exit paths for the air diminish the force that a single path offers? > > So we close the eyes seal that path, forcing all the air out the front with maximum wind power. > > Its been a little disturbing and slightly gross the one or two times I’ve sneezed without closing my eyes. Stuff should not come out the tear ducts with any velocity - it’s just not right when it happens. I used to (when I was in grade school) be able to blow air out of one of my tear ducts by holding my nose shut and trying to exhale strongly through my nose, although it occurred more when trying to blow out a stuffed nose. I thought it was quite freaky, and really didn’t realize until this thread that’s what I had been doing. ---
**Author:** ![DaveBfd](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/c6cbf5/32.png) [@DaveBfd](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DaveBfd)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/13 "2009-10-29T21:26:22Z")
We close our eyelids so our eyes dont pop out. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [October 29, 2009, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/14 "2009-10-29T21:39:49Z")
> [@DaveBfd](#): > > We close our eyelids so our eyes dont pop out. Well, pop out and explode. ---
**Author:** ![Serenata67](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/serenata67/32/10646_2.png) [@Serenata67](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Serenata67)\ **Post date:** [October 30, 2009, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-cant-we-keep-our-eyes-open-when-sneezing/515005/15 "2009-10-30T01:49:32Z")
I thought it would have to do with the fact that we’re expelling some sort of irritant. If it’s bugging our noses, we should close out eyes to make sure none of it ends up in our eyes. I could be totally off base, but it seems plausible in my head.