sneezing

Sneezing is the body's natural defence mechanism for clearing irritants from the nose. For whatever reason, the membrane is irritated, sneezing is a reflex act, completely beyond our control, by which the nose forces out air in an attempt to eject (and project!) the irritating bodies. Sometimes, however, this is accomplished only through multiple sneezes. When the inside of your nose gets a tickle, a message is sent to a special part of your brain called the sneeze centre. The sneeze centre then sends a message to all the muscles that have to work together to create the amazingly complicated process that we call sneezing. It is the job of the sneeze centre to make sure that all these muscles work together, in just the right order, to send that irritation flying out of your nose. Almost anything that can irritate the inside of your nose can start a sneezing episode. Items such as: dust, cold air, or pepper can bring about a sneeze; so too a cold in the nose, due to a virus making a temporary home there and causing lots of swelling and irritation. Some people have allergies, and they sneeze when they are exposed to certain things, such as animal fur, or pollen. Everybody always shuts their eyes during a sneeze, as a reaction to nerve impulses that control the muscles of the abdomen, chest, diaphragm, neck, face and eyelids, as well as the mucous glands and blood vessels in the nose. Also, many people's eyes water when they sneeze due to something called histamine. Sneezing may appear harmless, but it can be responsible for some potential dangers, particularly if driving at high speed or handling fragile materials or undertaking delicate operations, be that surgical, electrical, mechanical, whatever; a sudden outburst can lead to fatal consequences.