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You are here: Home / Science / Can the sun make you sneeze and what causes it?

Can the sun make you sneeze and what causes it?

June 12, 2020 by Karen Hill

When the Sun makes you sneeze, it’s called a photic sneeze reflex, and it occurs in about a quarter of the population.

What happens to convince your nose that the sun is an object that must be sneezed out of your nasal cavities? It’s simply a case of crossed wires, like hearing interference on your phone line from someone else’s conversation.

There are so many nerves running through your facial and nasal cavities that some of them end up right next to one another. Stepping into bright light sends rapid signals through your optical nerves to your brain so that it can instruct your pupils to dilate and your lids to squint in response.

Some of these optic nerves butt up against the nasal nerves and trigger a wildly inappropriate responseĀ—a sneeze.

Do you cough or choke while cleaning your ears? A similar signal-crossing scenario may be taking place.

Related Facts

  • Why Do Some People Sneeze When They Go From Indoors Into Sunlight and What Causes a Photic Sneeze Reflex?
  • Why don't you sneeze when you are asleep?
  • What Kind of Star Is the Sun, What Is the Temperature of the Surface of the Sun, and How Was the Sun Formed?
  • How Did the Sun Dance Begin In Blackfoot Mythology and Why Did Sun Teach Poia the Sun Dance?
  • Where Did the Expression "Bless you" For After a Sneeze Come From and What Does it Mean?
  • What Makes You Sneeze?

Filed Under: Science

About Karen Hill

Karen Hill is a freelance writer, editor, and columnist. Born in New York, her work has appeared in the Examiner, Yahoo News, Buzzfeed, among others.

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