ACHOO

Ever walked out of a dark movie theatre into the light and felt the need to sneeze?  Apparently, it only happens to about a quarter of the population.  My dad, Baby Ethan, and I are in that lucky 25%.  My family has always described the phenomena as "the sun getting you", but apparently the technical term is the photic sneeze reflex.

So, what does that mean for us photic sneeze reflexees?  Basically, our nerves are playing a game of telephone.  Our eyes tell our brains to constrict our pupils.  Our brain didn't hear our eyes correctly and interprets the message as "you have a nose irritant.  sneeze, now!".

The most interesting thing I found out when reading about the photic sneeze reflex, is that many people who have this issue have other issues with how light is interpreted by the brain.  Apparently, it is no coincidence that my dad and I can't be in a room with any sort of strobing effect.  Sometimes a flickering candle, is enough to make me feel a migraine coming on.  Let's all cross our fingers that Baby Ethan only experiences the sneezing aspect of this phenomena!

I hope this sheds some light (haha!) on the photic sneeze reflex, also known as Autosomal Dominant Compelling Helioophthalmic Outburst Syndrome (ACHOO Syndrome).