A member asked:

This is just a bit of a wierd quirk i wanna find out, if i hold my nose closed and try to blow through it air whistles out around my eyes... why?

4 doctors weighed in across 2 answers

Lacrimal tubes: The eye drains into the nose excess tears. There is a plumbing system that does this. It is generally one way but in some air or fluid can be blown or squirted into the eyes by backwards flow. This is sometimes a circus act trick by those who can do this using milk or some other obvious fluid. You have learned to do it with air.

Answered 9/25/2014

4k views

Thank

Incompetent valve: Your nasal lacrimal duct (NLD) system (that which drains tears into your nose) has one-way valves so that tears only flow into the nose. Some people's valves are incompetent and blowing the nose causes pressure-induced back flow of "snot" or air back into the eye(s). If you had a procedure to dilate the NLD system in the past, this may have violated the valvular mechanism.

Answered 10/23/2017

4k views

Thank

Related Questions

Sponsored Content
HealthTap Medical Group does not endorse products or services. Sponsored content revenues support our mission to make health information free and accessible to all.Learn more