Comments on: Why do some people sneeze when they look at the sun?

By: Lewis

Lewis — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 20:57:00 +0000

I too am a sun sneezer. For years I never met anyone else that did so. I have always found it to be funny. I hope all those people who consider it a disorder get help. As for me, I usually only sneeze once, not multiple times. Do some people sneeze over and over?

By: Martin

Martin — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 14:24:12 +0000

My family is just like Drew’s. The reflex only seems to occur on the male side: my grandfather, his son (my father), my brother and I.

But we are affected to different degrees, my grandfather and I more than my father or brother. This means that once my brother or father have gone out into the sun and sneezed, they will be right for the rest of the day. It can happen to me pratically every time I appear into the sunlight from a dark place. Can be a menace when you are driving.

By: Drew Barnard

Drew Barnard — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:29:19 +0000

For some reason all the males from my father’s side (my dad and his brothers, his dad, my brothers and I) of the family have this sunlight-induced sneezing reflex.

Curiously, none of the females in our family seem to have inherited this trait.

By: Kimberley

Kimberley — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 21:38:18 +0000

That is an absolutely disgusting photo.

By: jack

jack — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 17:31:32 +0000

i sneeze

By: Adam Huddleston

Adam Huddleston — Fri, 11 Dec 2009 06:27:24 +0000

I’m always interested in this topic. I sneeze when I think about sex, and it was interesting to find out that other people shared and were aware of my peculiarity.

By: sayid

sayid — Sun, 22 Nov 2009 15:15:14 +0000

I have some strange experience related to sneezing, though not the sun.

Whenever I focus on a certain thought/topic/mechanism etc in order to reveal what is behind it (like reading between the lines) I sneeze and lose concentration.
Which is why I sometimes cannot accomplish what I am trying to do (i.e. to understand a complex structure)

can someone explain that, seriously. I am not a kid, I am 24 years old, and finished college, going for a post-graduate degree. So, this sneezing thing makes me uncomfortable.

By: Patrick McGroin

Patrick McGroin — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:45:25 +0000

You people are all fools.

I discovered the answer to this mystery after my son was born. In the morning, when ever he woke up and the sun hit his face, we would immediately sneeze, clearing out all the mucus that has built up over the night. Babies that have this reflex therefor have less nasal congestion and so fewer upper respiratory infections and thus were more likely to live long enough to have children themselves.

Case closed.

By: NeeAnderTall

NeeAnderTall — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 08:46:18 +0000

I enter a bright ray of light. I squint my eyes. Doing so my facial muscles also flex my nose. Dry boogers fracture and pierce senstive nerve endings in my nose triggering tear duct response. Tickled nose + Tear ducts pumpin in squinted position = SNEEZE! Sometimes 2 sneezes. Followed up by facial tissue to blow my nose to clear debree and tears. I never needed a scientist to explain this to me.

By: Paul Clapham

Paul Clapham — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 22:19:45 +0000

Add me to the list of anecdotes who can hasten the sneeze by looking towards the sun.

But I don’t like the way that those UCSF people implicitly characterize it as a “disorder”. And there’s a “support group”? Do people really need emotional support for this? Strikes me as overkill.