Why do people sneeze?

Dear Erin,

A sneeze is your nose's way of coughing! Both coughs and sneezes keep dust, viruses, and other particles out of your breathing passages.

During the day, you breathe in dust, viruses, and other particles. These particles irritate the inside of your nose. This irritation sends a signal to your brain. The signal tells the brain that the nose needs to be cleaned out. The brain then tells the lungs t6 take a deep breath. The extra air taken in by this breath is pushed out of the nose and mouth with an explosive force we call a "sneeze." This blast of air from the lungs helps clean out your nose.

You sneeze a lot when you have a cold or an allergy attack. That's because the inside of your nose gets very irritated and keeps sending signals to the brain to clean it out!