• Question: What would happen if you sneeze with your eyes open?

    Asked by Ayrton to Ed, Kerrianne, Nina, Oli, yoyehudi on 13 Nov 2017.
    • Photo: Yo Yehudi

      Yo Yehudi answered on 13 Nov 2017:

      Not much, I suspect, except that you’d have sneezed with your eyes open! I’m guessing we close our eyes to protect them from debris when we sneeze, but if you manage to sneeze up to your eye I’d honestly be impressed (and it’d probably be pretty gross too!!)

    • Photo: Kerrianne Harrington

      Kerrianne Harrington answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      My mum used to tell me my eyes would fall out of my head, but she also used to say my face would get stuck if I made a funny face and the wind changed direction…. perhaps she’s not the most reliable source of information 😛

      I agree with Yo 🙂 I don’t think much would happen.

    • Photo: Oli Wilson

      Oli Wilson answered on 14 Nov 2017:

      I used to worry my eyes would fall out too! However, the Mythbusters say it can’t happen (http://www.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/mythbusters-database/sneezing-eyeballs-pop-out/), so I guess I’ll trust them – even though I think they might be wrong about pressure from sneezes not being able to affect your eyeballs. Sometimes, to prevent snot showers, I pinch my nose when I sneeze (probably not a good idea, I know) and I definitely get a lot of pressure coming up through my tear ducts! I’m sure that couldn’t pop my eyeballs out though, but if it ever does happen I’ll be sure to let you know..!

    • Photo: Ed Bracey

      Ed Bracey answered on 15 Nov 2017:

      A sneeze can cause little droplets to travel from your nose up to 8 metres away, and these can stay in the air for about 10 minutes.
      Gross!
      So cover it up with a cloth or tissue!
      But if your eyes are open, there shouldn’t be any eye-splosions, so don’t worry.

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