Why do we close our eyes when we sneeze?

oh my God if that were true my eyes would be half way to the moon as often as my allergies make me sneeze. wow. no our eyes are tightly anchored inou r eye sockets. what a bizarre idea.i have yet to close my eyes when I sneeze as I sneeze muc h too often for that. wow.

I read on this website: http://www.boston.com/news/science/articles/2004/06/15/why_do_my_eyes_close_every_time_i_sneeze/ And it says that we may close our eyes to help keep particles from our sneeze from getting into your eyes but that it also could just be a body reflex. It also said that if your wondering about the old wives tale of your heat skipping a beat that you don't need to worry it doesn't really skip a beat it may pause for a moment before resuming the normal rhythm but its nothing to worry about.

The force of the sneeze is such that we are compelled to close our eyes.There is a sudden release of mucus and irritation in the nose that we seek immediate release.This could be the reason we close our eyes till the sneeze is completed.I think it is to avoid putting pressure on the eyes.

It's not true. That's some kid's story. I've tried sneezing with my eyelids open and my eyes didn't pop out. It's just reflex action.

I guess it's just one of the natural reflexes of our bodies. There are a lot of them. Next time I'll sneeze, I will try my best to have my eyes open, and I'll let you know if my eyes pop out.

It is a natural phenomenon of body, when you sneeze the head part feels the thrust,naturally eyelids cover the eyeballs to keep the safe.

I don't really notice my eyes closing every time i sneeze. Our body may react directly to the effect of the sneeze like what one here mention of dust getting in our eyes, or because our eyes is related to our nose so when we sneeze we feel a bit itch in our nose when we try to sneeze out the itch our eyes automatically closes. There is no actual explanation for this..so i guess we can all have our own explanations why we close our eyes when sneezing

Personally I do not think that is the reason we do, for some reason I am thinking our eyes are pretty secured. Unless of course the person sneezes with a powerful strike, which personally I do not think that could be possible. As our eyes, ears, nose and throat are all connected. Therefore, when we sneeze all 4 get affected. (ENT).

Hi goodlooksecrets. Sneezing is a reflex, where we have no control of. It helps to eliminate foreign materials or things in the nose like germs, bacteria, pepper, or anything that is allergic or we call it allergens. There are people who sneeze without closing their eyes. I, for one, doesn't close my eyes when sneezing. I also don't believe in your notion that closing the eyes can prevent it to pop out upon sneezing. Maybe, just maybe, closing the eyes is just part of the reflex to some people. You might want to read more about sneezing at http://library.thinkquest.org/J0112390/sneezing.htm and http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=52283 enjoy reading...