Why do you always close your eyes when you sneeze?
439582
It is said that all bodily functions stop when you sneeze... save the actual sneezing function itself. \n\nDon't know if this really answers your question, but it seemed applicable.\n\nHave a good one!\n\n-Jordan
871528
I doubt it can damage your brain.  But it is bad for you.  You sneeze to expell germs or something irritating your sinuses, so not allowing yourself to sneeze ("closed mouth") allows that germ or whatever to stay inside.  Just let yourself sneeze!
576422
Check this link out.  Another asker had a similar question.\n\nRead the best answer!\n\nANYBODY WHO THINKS THAT IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO SNEEZE WITH YOUR EYES OPEN IS ILL INFORMED AND SHOULD ALSO READ THIS LINK!
1458
Researchers aren't sure exactly why the sneeze reflex happens, but whatever neurological message tells the eyes to close probably comes from a primitive part of the brain called the medulla oblongata in the brain stem.
16017
Sneeze is an involuntary violent expiration of air through the nose and mouth. It results from stimulation of the nervous system in the nose, causing sudden contraction of the muscles of expiration. The stimulus can include any irritating factor in the nose—inflammation of the tissues as the result of a cold or infection, allergic irritants (hay fever), or irritating substances such as dust or pollutants in the air. An occasional sneeze usually has little significance. Repeated sneezing indicates that some condition of the nose or in the immediate atmosphere requires attention.
921776
It's a reflex to keep snot our of your eyes.
320133
Not an expert, but it seems to be a kind of reflex action in a small percentage of people. If you experience the "sun sneeze" the same way that I do, it only occurs if I look skyward or toward the bright light of the sun.  If  I look away, I lose the urge to sneeze.  My best guess is that it may be a crossed wire of sorts in some people where an overload of the visual senses creates a reaction.  Since it is impossible to keep your eyes open during a sneeze, it could be that this reaction is the body's attempt to protect your eyes from exposure to the intense light.
224264
Sorry, we don’t know why most people close their eyes when sneezing. Not all do. \n\nSome experts guess that we’ve evolved closing eyes to reduce sneeze spray landing in our eyes. However, our eyes are exposed constantly to bacteria and viruses and have good defenses without eye closing.\n\nClosing eyes (or keeping them open) is part of the sneeze reflex. It’s a reflex—meaning we have no conscious control of sneezes. Instead, the primitive part of the brain (called the medulla oblongata and located at the top of the spine) calls the shots. The reflex triggers major muscles of face, throat, and chest to fire out gunk going at 100 mph (150 kph) as fast as a pitcher’s fastball.\n\nMost people tighten the eye muscles, causing them to shut, as they tighten the other muscles involved in a sneeze. But not all do. Some sneeze with their eyes open. Either way, it’s part of the inborn sneeze reflex.\n\nIn 1888, Thomas Edison hit upon the idea of movies from looking at sequential pictures of someone sneezing
119554
From the website linked below: \n\nSince the detailed answer below got kind of long, I will summarize the main points up front. About 25% of people do actually sneeze when exposed to bright lights like the sun. We do not know exactly why this happens, but it might reflect a "crossing" of pathways in the brain, between the normal reflex of the eye in response to light and the sneezing reflex. There is no apparent benefit from "sun-sneezing", and it probably is nothing more than an unimportant (but annoying) holdover of evolution. \n\nRead the whole article for detailed information.
107788
Its to keep your eyes from popping out of their sockets! Just kidding.\n\nActually, ASK Yahoo already adresses this question at http://ask.yahoo.com/20050721.html\n\nHere's a copy of their answer:\n\nDear Yahoo!: \nWhy is it impossible to sneeze with your eyes open? \nKevin\nEl Monte, California \n \nDear Kevin: \nThe received wisdom states that if you don't blink when you sneeze, your eyes will fly out of your head. Thankfully, as is often the case with urban legends, this theory is a load of hooey. Your eyeballs are safe and sound in their sockets. For a funny pictorial representation of this hypothetical scenario, check out this urban myth page from MTV: http://www.mtv.com/onair/big_urban_myth/birth/index.jhtml?choose=Sneezing+To+Blindness\n\nIn reality, a sneeze is simply an involuntary nervous response to nasal irritation. According to this nifty science blog entry (http://sxxz.blogspot.com/2004/12/sneeze-science.html), the sneeze impulse affects a variety of body parts, including the abdomen, chest, neck, and face. During a sneeze, the impulses that travel through your face cause your eyelids to blink. This response is entirely automatic. There's nothing you can do about it. Sneezing puts a lot of pressure on your head and respiratory system, so blinking is probably a protective mechanism. \n\nThe point is that all of these responses (the abdominal contraction, the sharp burst of air out of your lungs, the general lunging movement) are intertwined. When you sneeze, you can't do one without the other.
574231
Sneezing is a reflex that occurs when something irritates the mucus membrane in our nose. Particulate matter, bacteria, and other such things get bogged down in the mucus and tiny hair-like cilia wiggle the potentially hazardous material toward the front of the nose or down the back of the throat. A message is sent to the brainstem, which sends messages all over the body. What happens next?…that great spasmodic reflex we call sneezing, a well-coordinated effort of many muscles working at once…your diaphragm muscle flexes, as do your abdominal muscles, your chest muscles, the muscles controlling the vocal cords, and the muscles in the back of your throat…your tongue raises to block your mouth…and your eyelids close. Air is forced out of your nose, sending thousands of bacteria-filled globules of snot into our immediate atmosphere…and then, as good manners dictate…people will invoke higher powers to bestow upon you a blessing. A most sanctimonious event, indeed!
88528
It is an involuntary reaction.  I wonder if it is to keep our eyes from popping out!  But, really, that's just how our brain directs our bodies during such a complex human action.  Do animals close their eyes when they sneeze too?
232297
A sneeze is the fastest known action that a human can perform.  It is involuntary and can make the head mover VERY sharply.  Maybe our eyes close so that we don't get anything in them when our head jerks forward?  Dust, leaves, branches, etc. would be both painful and dangerous if they got into our eyes while we were moving our head at high speed.\n\nAccording to Wikipedea:\nIt is almost impossible for a person to keep their eyelids open during a sneeze, although some rare individuals report having little if any trouble doing so. The reflex of shutting the eyes serves no obvious purpose: the nerves serving the eyes and the nose are closely related, and stimuli to the one often trigger some response in the other.
46066
When sinus around your nose is releasing too much liquid to your nose, and block your air passage, the sneeze mechanism in your brain tells you to sneeze.
1008079
Because the pressure of the sneeze, you close your eyes. You can't control them because its something the body controls. Try holding your nose or biting your tongue though if you're about to sneeze. Then you don't.
722090
When you sneeze every muscle in your body tightens, The muscle in your eye might be more sensitive to the sudden spasm
327835
Due to the pressure in your cranium your eyes would be pressurized slightly. There would be a slight bulging of your eyes from your head which is actually what happens normally when you sneeze, however your eyes would stay in just as they normally do. The closing of your eyes is just to maintain some extra support to keep the muscles and nerves which hold your eyes in from having to do as much work.\n\nWithout the eyelid, the many eye muscles and optical nerve would do a fine job keeping the eyes in.\n\nIf you've seen Ripley's or Guinness Book of World Records, and you've seen the people that push their eyes out of their heads really far, you'd realize that you dont have to worry because your eyes can handle a lot.