It is very difficult to sneeze with your eyes open due to an involuntary reflex. The eye-closing is controlled by the same cranial nerve that triggers sneezing, creating an automatic protective response, though it's not actually to protect eyes from bacteria.
Why Do Your Eyes Close When You Sneeze?
Ever try to keep your eyes open during a sneeze? Unless you're actively forcing them to stay open with your fingers, it's nearly impossible. But why does this happen, and is it really protecting your eyes from flying bacteria?
The real culprit is your cranial nerves. When you sneeze, it's orchestrated by the trigeminal nerve (cranial nerve V), which also happens to control your eyelids. This creates an involuntary coupling—when the sneeze reflex fires, your eyes automatically slam shut as part of the same neural cascade.
The Bacteria Myth
Contrary to popular belief, your eyes don't close to shield them from germs or debris being expelled. While a sneeze can propel droplets at speeds up to 100 mph, your closed eyelids aren't thick enough to provide meaningful bacterial protection anyway.
The actual reason is far less dramatic: it's just neurological wiring. The sneeze reflex involves multiple muscle groups firing simultaneously, and your eyelids happen to be along for the ride.
Can You Actually Sneeze With Eyes Open?
Yes, but it takes effort. Some determined individuals have managed to keep their eyes open during a sneeze by physically holding their eyelids up. Their eyes don't pop out (another persistent myth), and nothing catastrophic happens.
However, fighting this reflex is uncomfortable and feels unnatural—like trying to keep your knee from jerking when a doctor taps it with a reflex hammer.
The eye-closing response might also serve a minor protective function by temporarily reducing visual distractions during the violent muscle contractions of a sneeze. When your chest, abdomen, and facial muscles are all convulsing simultaneously, having your eyes shut may help your body focus on completing the sneeze reflex safely.
Other Sneeze Oddities
Sneezing comes with other quirks beyond closed eyes:
- Your heart doesn't actually stop when you sneeze (another myth)
- Bright light triggers sneezing in about 25% of people (photic sneeze reflex)
- It's impossible to sneeze while sleeping—your brain suppresses the reflex
- The average sneeze expels about 40,000 droplets into the air
So the next time you feel a sneeze coming on, don't fight the eye-closing. It's just your brain running an ancient automated program that links multiple reflexes together, whether they need to be linked or not.