[Qing (OP)]

Why do we sneeze? And why do we sneeze not only when we have a cold?
When we sneezing,we sometimes have itching feeling in our nose,why is that?
Can anybody help me please? It will be great!

[jdelgado]

Here's what I found:

http://194.128.19.86/pages/quizes/wallanswers/sneeze.html [nofollow]

also:

http://www.smarterkids.com/rescenter/library/articles/how_come/hc030100.asp?redir=true [nofollow]

[cuso4]

Great explanation in the two links!

And welcome to the forum, Qing and jdlgado.

Angel

[Quantumcat]

Guess I'm too late, but I was going to say you sneeze to get rid of a foreign substance from the nasal passage, whether a bit of dust, pollen or whatever. You close your eyes when you sneeze because the pressure you build up would be enough to blow them out. (or so I've heard)

Am I dead? Am I alive? I'm both!

[cuso4]

Is it also true that the nose and eyes are some how connected? This explains why sometimes you have tears coming out of your eyes when you sneeze?

Angel

[Qing (OP)]

Thank you for helping me.[] I've been sneezing madly for nearly one week,[] and that's what causes me to think why people sneeze.
I don't seem to have got any cold or hay fever but sneeze.
Is it right that there are capillary networks on the very surface of lining inside the nose, and what's why sometimes when you blow your nose or even sneezing will cause some kind of bleeding?

Qing

[cuso4]

Qing, are you allergic to anything? At this time of year, if you continue to sneeze you probably have hay fever, even if you don't want to admit it.

Angel

[Quantumcat]

Yup, you're right about the bleeding.

Am I dead? Am I alive? I'm both!

[nilmot]

Angel, I think the nose, eyes and tear thing Chris had already explained that on the 'Tears' topic.

Tom

[Qing (OP)]

The only thing I know that I am allergic to is iodine, but that's only when I actually use it on my skin.[] However I do have some problems with my nose,e.g.rhinitis.
By the way,Angel,have you finished all your exams?

Qing

[cuso4]

Nope! Still got 2 maths papers left. One on Friday and the other on Tuesday.

Angel

[Ians Daddy]

Is it true that you die for a second when you sneeze? I've heard that for a split second, your entire body shuts down as it would at death. Someone stated that it was the closest to death that we ever are without dying.
Is that valid?

[Donnah]

From an experiential point of view, sneezing feels nothing like my near death experience did.

[mm]

I once saw a show on TV showing incredible things. One man was trying to sqeeze milk from the hole in his eye as far as he could. He eventually got to 3 metres ish. That was  mad though, i think.

[cuso4]

There is a specie of lizard that can shoot blood out from its eyes to scare off predators or something.

Angel

[chris]

quote:Originally posted by mm

I once saw a show on TV showing incredible things. One man was trying to sqeeze milk from the hole in his eye as far as he could. He eventually got to 3 metres ish. That was  mad though, i think.

Hi mm, welcome to the forum.

Nice thought - firing milk from your eyes. Sounds even more bizarre than Angel's lizard (which I've not heard of, perhaps someone can enlighten us...)

Anyway, yes, this milk story highlights the anatomy of your eyes / nose. Tears produced by the lacrimal glands run across the eye and down 'plug holes' on the eyelids at the corners of the eyes closest to the nose.

The tears collect in a lacrimal sac (a dilatation of the duct below the eye) and then drain down the nasolacrimal duct to the nose. This is why your nose runs when you cry. Conversely, when you sneeze, or blow your nose hard, the pressure wave pushes the tears back in the opposite direction and they wash into your eyes, making them run.

Chris

"I never forget a face, but in your case I'll make an exception"
 - Groucho Marx

[Qing (OP)]

that explains why sometimes when you sneeze during eating you might have some unpleasant experience of which some food granuales enter you nose. that's really awful![xx(]
by the way, my sneeze is better now[] but still on hay fever tablet.
thanks everyone.[]

Qing

[Quantumcat]

If you hold your nose tightly shut, shut your eyes, close your mouth and sort of push hard as if you were trying to snort, air comes out your tear ducts along with a whistling noise.

Am I dead? Am I alive? I'm both!

[Exodus]

Its never done that with me... my ears just pop.

Resident Tour Operator - The Naked Scientists

[Qing (OP)]

I tried it,and felt like air comes out the tear ducts but without any whistling noise. I think I'll ask some other people to try it as well.

Qing