Eli5: Why do we sneeze?
In: Other
To expel something from out the nose/nasal cavity.
There’s all sorts of space up your nose in your head that the air flows through, there’s mucous membranes and olfactory cells (cells that let you smell stuff) all stored up in there.
When something, dirt, bacteria, pollen, dead skin, or anything (like pepper in cartoons) gets up there, it’ll irritate the more sensitive inside of your head.
Your brain then triggers a sneeze to try to get whatever that particle is out.
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