Welcome to Day 25 of my July Trivia posts.*
Trivia: It’s impossible to sneeze with your eyes open.
I’ve heard this before and almost didn’t pick it from the list because I thought it was true. Surprise, it isn’t. You can sneeze with your eyes open, and no, your eyeballs won’t pop out of your head.
Your eyes automatically close when you sneeze due to an autonomic reflex.
According to healthline.com, “An autonomic reflex is a motor action that your body makes in response to a stimulus. It doesn’t involve a conscious decision on your part to take that action.”
However, you can override this reflex and sneeze with your eyes open. Nothing terrible will happen.
Scientists aren’t sure why you automatically close your eyes, but one theory is that closing your eyes protects them from particles that fly out when you sneeze. This makes sense to me. Even if you can keep your eyes open, why would you?
I give this trivia a 0 out of 10. I like debunking common myths.
*I’m doing something hard (for me) in July that I don’t want to talk about until August (in case I fail.) This something takes a lot of time, so I’m simplifying my July posts. I’m using a list of trivia that Aunt Patti emailed me. Each day, I will explore a trivia fact and bring you the truth, not just the clickbait. I might even rate the trivia. I think this will be fun because I love exploring new topics and sharing them with you. I hope you learn something too. If you do, why not share it with a friend. One of my goals is to get more readers, and word of mouth is a great way to do that. Many thanks.