Why does getting the sun or a bright light in your eyes make you sneeze,

Jump to Last Post 1-8 of 8 discussions (13 posts)
  1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
    DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years ago

    Why does getting the sun or a bright light in your eyes make you sneeze,

    or stimulate and produce a 'stuck' sneeze?

  2. BraidedZero profile image85
    BraidedZeroposted 10 years ago

    Just spit-balling here... maybe your body does it because you always close your eyes when you sneeze. It's your body involuntarily forcing you to close your eyes and look away from the sun. Just an idea... not sure what the real answer is...

  3. profile image0
    JThomp42posted 10 years ago

    Sudden bright stimulation of the eye that occurs after a person has become adapted to darker surroundings is thought to bring on the condition, known as photic sneeze reflex. The reflex also is called Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioophthalmic Outburst Syndrome, known by the acronym ACHOO. (Not making this up. Really.)

  4. artist101 profile image58
    artist101posted 10 years ago

    https://usercontent2.hubstatic.com/6680959_f260.jpg

    It is a b complex deficiency, as well as sensitivity to light. Among the other symptoms include lack of dream recall, (B6). numbness and tingling in the hands and feet, sensitivity to noise, not able to adapt to stress, dizziness, hair loss, sore mouth, low blood pressure, burning feet, PMS, poor memory, and confusion, just to name a fewhttp://artist101.hubpages.com/hub/The-Benefits-of-the-B-Vitamins-For-More-Than-Just-Stress. Makes me wanna sneeze just thinking about it!!smile

    1. Subrisus profile image57
      Subrisusposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The link you provided is broken (404 error), but I'm not sure why. I found the article under your name and the address looks the same. Lets try again: http://artist101.hubpages.com/hub/The-B … ust-Stress

    2. artist101 profile image58
      artist101posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      thank you Subrisus!! Probably because I didn't put a space between the link, and few. Cant edit, so thank you so much!!! for your help!!

  5. Neinahpets profile image81
    Neinahpetsposted 10 years ago

    Not everyone has this, and only about 18-35% of people are afflicted by "sun sneezing"  Sun sneezing is the photic sneeze reflex (also known as photoptarmosis). 

    What it is, is basically a condition of uncontrollable sneezing in response to numerous stimuli, such as looking at bright lights or periocular (surrounding the eyeball) injection.  It's not just a light stimulation reflex.

    I find the condition to be very strange.  I find, and many others I've known find, that looking directly into a bright light or bulb when you're unable to STOP sneezing will stop a sneezing fit.

    1. DzyMsLizzy profile image86
      DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, I had not thought of a reverse reaction--I'll have to try that the next time my hay fever has me sneezing my head off!  ;-)

    2. Neinahpets profile image81
      Neinahpetsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It doesn't always work for my husband, but it works great for me!  I'm so thankful for the trick because I get into sneezing fits sad

  6. Sharyn's Slant profile image90
    Sharyn's Slantposted 10 years ago

    Interesting question!  I'm going to follow to see what else is said. 

    When I feel sneezes coming on but they become "stuck" - I can literally just look at a bright light or even just "think" about looking at a bright light, and the sneezes will come.

    I also always sneeze 6 times in a row.  No more, no less.

    And my sneezes actually sound like coughs.  Weird, I know smile

  7. theryanpride profile image68
    theryanprideposted 10 years ago

    known as the photic sneeze reflex.A connection between bright light and sneezing. It has a name but you’re not going to believe it: Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helio-Ophthalmic Outburst or ACHOO Syndrome.

    1. IslandBites profile image90
      IslandBitesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      We learn something everyday. It happens to me all the time, but I have always thought it got something to do with sudden change of temperature or something like that. LOL  So, now I know. haha Thanks.

  8. profile image0
    jonnycomelatelyposted 10 years ago

    Trying to recall studies from my radiography training days, I believe the Trigeminal Nerve (this is the 5th Cranial Nerve), has one of its branches, the Ophthalmic Nerve, that takes sensations from the upper eye lid, the cornea, and the nasal mucosa.
    When strong light strikes the eye, any irritation in that region can be mistaken as occurring in another adjacent region.  So the mucus lining of the nasal cavity will sense an irritation there and initiate the sneezing reflex.
    Maybe someone better qualified in this will correct me or confirm.

Closed to reply
 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)