Why can't we sneeze with our eyes open?

Everybody closes their eyes when sneezing. It's something we can't help doing.

If you want to know why, it is because your body takes protecting your health very seriously. Every sneeze is aimed at expelling bacteria or viruses as far away as possible, and can reach speeds of around 150 km/h. If we left our eyes open, the pressure that speed causes could damage our eyes a lot.

To prevent any damage to our eyes during this defensive action, closing our eyes is a mandatory part of the procedure.

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