Can't sneeze? Stare at a light!

[Lady Luzhin]

This one is very popular in my family. The idea is that if you have to sneeze, but can't, stare at a light and that will cause you to sneeze.

IME, it doesn't work. Has anyone else heard this one?

[Sylvanz]

Originally Posted by Lady Luzhin

This one is very popular in my family. The idea is that if you have to sneeze, but can't, stare at a light and that will cause you to sneeze.

IME, it doesn't work. Has anyone else heard this one?

It works quite well for me. There is a name for it and we've discussed it here before. I'm told that for some people they can make themselves sneeze anytime they look at a bright light. I have to need to sneeze for it to work.

P&LL, Syl

[Lady Luzhin]

Originally Posted by Sylvanz

It works quite well for me. There is a name for it and we've discussed it here before. I'm told that for some people they can make themselves sneeze anytime they look at a bright light. I have to need to sneeze for it to work.

P&LL, Syl

Same here on the having to sneeze for it to work, but it doesn't work with me. My firends have tride it as well and it doesn't work for them either. Maybe the lights are too high-up at work.

[Sylvanz]

Originally Posted by Lady Luzhin

Same here on the having to sneeze for it to work, but it doesn't work with me. My firends have tride it as well and it doesn't work for them either. Maybe the lights are too high-up at work.

Someone here who remembers better than I do will come along and explain it better, but I believe it's a genetic thing. Some people got it some don't. Like being able to roll your tongue etc. For me a brighter light often works, but it also depends on how badly I need to sneeze how close I am to sneezing etc.

P&LL, Syl

[justusfour]

If I already feel like I'm going to sneeze, looking at a light makes me sneeze faster. And as you stated Lady Luhzin if I feel like I am not going to be able to sneeze, I seek a light immediately and it works every time. It has to be fairly bright, like the kitchen recessed lighting. The living room lamps with the darker shades, for example, don't make a difference.

[mags]

My SO is a light sneezer. He doesn't try to do it ever, but often when we go outside and the sun shines into his eyes, he sneezes a few times.

[Lady Luzhin]

I grew up hearing stories about mirrors being a sort of 'gateway' to hell. I think that made the legend of Bloody Mary all the more scary for me. What are some Old wives' tales about mirrors?

[Four Kitties]

Originally Posted by Lady Luzhin

This one is very popular in my family. The idea is that if you have to sneeze, but can't, stare at a light and that will cause you to sneeze.

IME, it doesn't work. Has anyone else heard this one?

Originally Posted by Sylvanz

It works quite well for me.

It works well for me, too.

Originally Posted by Sylvanz

Someone here who remembers better than I do will come along and explain it better, but I believe it's a genetic thing.

Which explains why it also works for my daughter.

Originally Posted by justusfour

If I already feel like I'm going to sneeze, looking at a light makes me sneeze faster. And as you stated Lady Luhzin if I feel like I am not going to be able to sneeze, I seek a light immediately and it works every time. It has to be fairly bright, like the kitchen recessed lighting. The living room lamps with the darker shades, for example, don't make a difference.

For me, it's not how bright the light is, but how much contrast there is between light and dark. It often works for me by just looking first at the darkest, then at the brightest part of a room.

I'm sitting at a bright screen in a dark room -- I've sneezed three times while typing this post!

Four Kitties

[Sylvanz]

Originally Posted by Four Kitties

It works well for me, too.Which explains why it also works for my daughter.For me, it's not how bright the light is, but how much contrast there is between light and dark. It often works for me by just looking first at the darkest, then at the brightest part of a room.

I'm sitting at a bright screen in a dark room -- I've sneezed three times while typing this post!

Four Kitties

I believe you are correct for me too. 4K contrast does make a difference, but I do have to sneeze in the first place. I wish someone who remembers the original thread on this would post a link to the name of the syndrome or whatever it is.

P&LL, Syl

Ha! I found a Link It's called "Photic Sneeze Reflex."

Edit again and this link even mentions snopes.com

[AnglRdr]

Originally Posted by Lady Luzhin

Same here on the having to sneeze for it to work, but it doesn't work with me. My firends have tride it as well and it doesn't work for them either. Maybe the lights are too high-up at work.

Just any light won't do for me--it has to be very bright. The sun works best.

[ETA: photic sneeze reflex? ]

[Tootsie Plunkette]

I usually have to look up at a light - so the sun (if out) is the most convenient.

[kitoboo]

Years ago I worked at a company that had nice large windows that looked out over a pleasant wooded area. One day my coworker had a startled look on his face. He walked over to the windows and looked up at the sky. I walked over beside him and looked up too. That was the first time I ever heard about looking at the sun when you feel the need to sneeze.

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by AnglRdr

[ETA: photic sneeze reflex? ]

This. Although, if I understand the condition correctly, staring at a light wouldn't be quite as effective as the (relatively) rapid introduction of a bright light, such as walking out of a structure into very bright sunlight.

My son has the reflex very strongly, my wife to a lesser extent. I don't, but my mom does. My dad doesn't, AFAIK.

[JessBoo]

I read years ago (so no cite, sorry) that the part of your brain that makes you sneeze is next to the part that deals with light, so if you need to sneeze and you look at a light, your brain gets confused and deals with both at the same time.

[James G]

Originally Posted by Sylvanz

Like being able to roll your tongue etc.

Nitpick. Being able to roll your tounge isn't actually genetic. A paper published many years ago now initially proposed that it was, but the finding was challenged and disproved (indeed, if I recall correctly it may even have been retracted by the author of the original paper itself) almost immediately. Still, this didn't stop it from getting into the text-books.

Indeed, by brothers are identical twins, one can roll his tounge, the other can't. I'm not sure if its a case of learned behaviour, or of stochastic and environmental factors in development.

[llewtrah]

Originally Posted by James G

Nitpick. Being able to roll your tounge isn't actually genetic.

Back in the year dot when I was in school it was taught that tongue-rolling was genetic. A number of non-rollers disproved this during the course of a term by learning to roll their tongues. Joined vs free earlobes is a better illustration of genetic traits.

I have photogenic sneezing. I am disqualified from becoming a fighter pilot (not that I wanted to be one). It's an inconvenience when driving in the morning/evening with the sun directly ahead of me (or refelcting strongly off of wet roads).

As I've aged, it is less troublesome and my eyes are generally less photosentive. I used to have sneezing fits on bright summer days and my parents blamed it on pollen or dust. The doctor pooh-poohed my claim it happened if I looked at bright light.

[Mr. Furious]

Originally Posted by JessBoo

I read years ago (so no cite, sorry) that the part of your brain that makes you sneeze is next to the part that deals with light, so if you need to sneeze and you look at a light, your brain gets confused and deals with both at the same time.

According to the ever-reliable Wikipedia:

The probable cause is a congenital malfunction in nerve signals in the trigeminal nerve nuclei. The fifth cranial nerve, called the trigeminal nerve, is apparently responsible for sneezes. Research suggests that some people have an association between this nerve and the nerve that transmits visual impulses to the brain. Overstimulation of the optic nerve triggers the trigeminal nerve, and this causes the photic sneeze reflex.

[James G]

Originally Posted by llewtrah

Back in the year dot when I was in school it was taught that tongue-rolling was genetic. A number of non-rollers disproved this during the course of a term by learning to roll their tongues. Joined vs free earlobes is a better illustration of genetic traits.

Hell, we were taught it in school, long after the claims were rebuffed. It was only in university when I was in the pub with a few of my lecturers that I found the truth. (As did a few of the lecturers)

[Mosherette]

I have it. The worst thing for me is the sun shining on a thick bank of white clouds; then I just sneeze pretty much constantly unless I really squint (which gives me a headache). I don't even have to need to sneeze to do it.

[jw]

I have Photic sneeze reflex too. One in three have it, according to Scientific American.