Bright lights cause big sneezes
The photic sneeze reflex is what causes many people to sneeze when when suddenly exposed to bright light, for example walking out of a dark movie theater. A third of the population seems to experience this odd phenomenon but scientists don't yet know much about the genetics behind it. From Scientific American:
The genetic culprit remains unidentified, but scientists are starting to take an interest in trying to find out. "I think it's worth doing," says Louis Ptácek, a neurologist at the University of California, San Francisco, and an investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Ptácek studies episodic disorders such as epilepsy and migraine headaches, and he believes that investigating the photic sneeze reflex could shed light on their related neurology.Link
Epileptic seizures are sometimes triggered by flashing lights and migraine headaches are often accompanied by photophobia. "If we could find a gene that causes photic sneezing, we could study that gene and we might learn something about the visual pathway and some of these other reflex phenomena," Ptácek says.
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I suffer from this. I was told by a doctor that it was caused by my eyes watering which in turn irritated my nose, since they are connected.
My name is Douglas, and I am a sun sneezer.
And here I thought everyone reacted this way!
I always assumed it was because of how my sinuses rearranged when I squinted. Similar to tickling the inside of my nose. Looking up with my eyes has a similar effect.
Did I just solve a medical mystery?
What's interesting is the bi-directional aspect of this; if one feels a sneeze coming on (but not quite there), mentally picturing a bright light can trigger it.
If you use the "brain as a black box that can't truly differentiate inputs" model, this makes a lot of sense. But I suspect that the phenomenon will tell a lot about the neurology, regardless of model.
thank you!!! my whole life, I've been afflicted with this. It can be very bothersome. i've found the lightly pinching the bridge of my nose helps to quell the urge to sneeze.
Sun sneezer? I didn't know there was a term for it. I'm one.
Even if you don't sneeze when the sun first hits your eyes, you still get a bright little neurological hit off it. It's small, but you can feel it.
I've been aware of my sun sneezing since I was a kid. My dad, an optometrist, said it was because of the proximity of the optic nerve bundle to the sinus nerve bundle. The overstimulated optic nerves stimulate the sinus nerves and caused sneezes.
Being aware of it, I notice it in a lot of people.
My eyes seem to automatically close when I sneeze. Thus, I always thought that sneezing is a natural reflex to force your eyes closed when you look at a bright light to prevent eye damage.
that's news?
like, duh!
Whenever I feel a sneeze coming on but it gets "stuck" I glance at the sun or a bright light. It always works.
I'm a photic sneezer. I also meditate twice daily and sneeze when I visualize bright light. I assume that it's neurological since I can replicate it without the actual physical stimulus.
I was taught in college that this was called "A.C.H.O.O. syndrome", standing for Autosomal-dominant Compelling Helio-Opthalmic Outburst.
I'm disappointed that this name isn't mentioned in any of the official literature. :-(
@K0AN
I'm the same way. Which is only a problem at night when the brightest light I may have is only 60w. So I wonder around with my eyes rolled back and watering, my head craned back and my mouth agape trying to find a better light source.
I've also noticed babies sneeze at sunlight more often than adults.
I'm a sun sneezer, too! Funny thing is, quality chocolates also cause me to sneeze (not Hershey's, for sure), dark beers, and other flavors that have a strong back-of-the-tongue component. It feels almost identical to a sun sneeze. And I'm certainly not allergic to those foods - or at least suffer no noticeable adverse effects beyond the sneeze itself.
I also have this sun allergy :)
I've always felt it was caused by the speed of iris constriction.
any link with sun sneezers and migraine sufferers?
For years I teased my ex about his "sun allergy." Now I suppose I'll have to apologize.
Judging by the comments here, and conversations I've had with other people, I doubt that the number of people susceptible to this is as low as 30%. The genetics that cause this are probably universal.
I, too, have the photic sneeze reaction.
I'm guessing that the comments here are a non-representative sample of the general population, mostly consisting of people who read the story and went "Hey, that's me!".
Because it's not the sort of thing that comes up in everyday conversation, I doubt most people with it realise how many people don't have it.
I had conversation with a girl once who didn't believe me about it, because she didn't have it.
And I thought I was allergic to sunshine like my mum. She gets a rash, I sneeze. Guess not!
It's very interesting that we have such wide array of ideas as to what might cause it. Like Atomische, I always thought it might be a sensitivity to the contracting iris.
Uh oh... I'm a sun sneezer and a migraine sufferer. What does that mean?
Anybody else notice that the photic sneeze reflex seems to go away with age?
Never seen any correlation with migraines.
The 30% number is entirely believable, I do know prevalence is low enough many people don't believe it exists.
So explain this: I knew a guy with the sun sneeze reflex, he could trigger one by looking at a lightbulb (yes when it was on) as well. He also claimed that that thinking about sex, specifically thinking about his favourite fantasy, nuns brought on sneezes. So, I guess he was a nun sneezer. Promise I didn't make this up just for the pun.
Plate o'shrimp!
I work in the Pathology department at a large teaching hospital, and just this morning was asking one of the doctors why the cold, dry weather always makes me cough once or twice every morning. He said the cold air triggers a histamine reaction in the lungs, which produces the cough. He related it to the histamine reaction that occurs in photic sneezing. And since he knows I suffer from chronic migraine (2 to 3 per week) he passed along the insight that red wine-triggered migraines are also thought to be triggered by the histamines in the wine, and that some have been able to avoid migraines by taking antihistamines before drinking - I cannot wait to try this.
Another interesting point is that I am currently taking a daily dose of an anti-epileptic med, which has cut the number of episodes I have in half.
(Good luck, Keri!)
My boyfriend has this. It's pretty funny actually - I'll often ask him if he's had his morning sneeze yet. Somehow the day doesn't really start without it.
I'm starting to wonder if I have this too, because I'm always sneezing and I'm always in front of a computer (though I do sneeze elsewhere). Is there a connection, or am I just highly allergic? :P
solar reflex is the only thing keeping me from being a fighter pilot.
I can also sneeze from looking at a bright light or at the sun. It seems to be the change in brightness that does the trick - sometimes I have to repeatedly eclipse the light source with my hand, moving the edge of the shadow back and forth across my eyes, to make it work. Some times it helps if I look to the side of the light source, letting the light enter my eyes at an angle. Other times it won't work at all.
I had no idea there were people who could sneeze from IMAGINING a bright light!
Dark chocolate and any bright light always make me sneeze. Also if I have a regular sneeze about to strike I can hurry it along by looking at a bright light. My family has never really believed me; I can't wait for them to read this article.
I don't sneeze with sudden exposure to bright light. But if I'm having trouble getting a sneeze out, any bright light makes it come faster. I always look like a freak when I'm in front of other people and making the "I'm about to sneeze" face while looking for an exposed light bulb to look at.
@25
mix alcohol and antihistamines only on the nights you are not polishing your gun collection
Most of the people in my family suffer from this. For some reason, I've always been under the impression that this somehow relates to a specific kind of eye pigmentation. Everyone in my family has relatively light blue/blue-grey eyes or was born with blue eyes that turned green later in life. Generally the people with the green eyes had the reflex worse than everyone else.
I have it, and I love it! Feels so good to get out into the fresh sun and sneeze a few times! Several of us in the family have this. When you feel a sneeze coming on at night, you just have to find a bright light to use.
If you don't want to sneeze, try pressing hard on the indentation under your nose; try it, it works most of the time for me.
Lordy I'm sneezing reading this (truly). Photic sneeze response and minor migraines here, also a wife who counts the number of sneezes I do in a row in the morning. Normally 6 or 7, occasionally 8 - not fun on a packed commuter train (well, a relief for me but not those around).
This is crazy. I had no idea it could be genetic, though. Every time I am about to sneeze but it won't come out, my boyfriend (who is a sun sneezer) will tell me to look at the light or look at the sun. It doesn't do a thing for me. Works for him every time, though.