Solar Sneezes?
Okay. I have an odd one. Solar sneezing. What causes it?
By solar sneezing, I mean on those occassions that you look into the sun or a bright light and suddenly sneeze. Why does this reaction occur, and WHY does it only happen to some people, not everyone?
Solar Sneezes, or Photic Sneezes are something that happens in 17-25% of people. There are different theories behind the cause for this, from the sun creating tears that seep down and irritate your sinus and things like that, but the timing doesn’t work.
However there is one theory that seems to fit. The optic nerve is close enough to the trigeminal nerve (which is where your sneezes originate from) to overstimulate the trigeminal nerve and cause you to sneeze. The same things happens to some people when they breath in cold air quickly. Since your sinuses are all connected, so are most of the nerves.
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