Does our heart stop beating when we sneeze?  

Your body makes you sneeze when it detects anything foreign in your respiratory system (the nose, throat or lungs). This can include pollen, smoke, germs or dust. Sneezing is like your body’s own cleaning mechanism which ensures that things entering your nose are thrown out, so they do not cause you harm or illness. Do you know that sneezing impacts different functions of your body? Yes, you read that right. Come, let’s find out about how it all works when we sneeze.  

Heartbeat is interrupted temporarily 
Many believe that our heartbeat stops when we sneeze. But that isn't the case. Let’s explain it for you. We take long breaths before sneezing. Well, these breaths increase the pressure in your chest, taking up the heart rate, reducing blood pressure and slowing blood flow to the heart. When you eventually sneeze, all the pressure in your chest rapidly releases. This slows down your heart rate, increases blood pressure and speeds up blood flow back to your heart. This sudden change in pressure and blood flow causes a temporary interruption in your heartbeat, as your heart adjusts to the swift increase in blood pressure! So, now you know. Sneezing doesn't stop your heart; it only momentarily disturbs the rhythm of your heart! 

Our eyes shut when we sneeze 
This is a reflex action. As the nerves in your nose and eyes are connected with each other, it is possible that activating one might cause some action in the other. When you sneeze, nerves in your nose are activated. Hence, it's likely that some of the nerves in your eyes may cause your eyelids to close. But it not at all mandatory to close your eyes when you sneeze. In fact, some people can even keep their eyes open throughout a sneeze! However, many believe that keeping your eyes open during a sneeze would make your eyeballs pop out! But is this really the case? No, definitely not. There have been no reports of any eye issues being caused by keeping your eyes open during a sneeze. Science suggests that sneezing does not include any physiological process that may cause your eyes to pop out. Although a sneeze may cause a small increase in blood pressure behind the eyes, this tiny, brief force is insufficient to move the eyeballs from their bony sockets! 

Our eardrums may get ruptured 
Sometimes we forcefully try to prevent a sneeze by squeezing our nose.  This may impact our eardrums. Let us see how. When you sneeze, the air you exhale moves at roughly 100 miles per hour! Superfast, right? So, attempting to resist such a significant force (for example, by squeezing your nose) forces air into the Eustachian tube, the tube that links it to the middle ear and eardrum. Redirecting a sneeze in this manner may thus rupture your eardrum, leading to loss of hearing. Although this can be resolved with medical treatment, it’s best to avoid it.