Achoo! Yawn! Hiccup!

The peculiar little things our bodies do

By: Suzanna Molino Singleton
   The human body is an amazing machine. Parts of it are fairly user-friendly — with very little thought we can direct our eyeballs to look at something, reach an arm to scratch an itch, or cross our legs.
   Yet sometimes our bodies act involuntarily — and in funny ways — without an apparent cue. These actions are what we refer to as reflexes. A scientific explanation exists for almost anything, so let’s look at why our bodies do the funny things they do, all on their own.
Goose bumps
   Goose bumps, or gooseflesh, are more than a series of books from Scholastic. These tiny little bumps pop up under our skin when we become chilled, frightened or while listening to beautiful music. Piloerection (pil is from the Latin word for hair) is the medical term for goose bumps, which happens when our nervous system gives us feedback.
   When the pili muscle at the base of the hair contracts, so does the skin around it and the hair stands on end. The small bumps are noticeable because the skin is visible and our body hair is very short. (The term goose bumps derives from medieval times. When geese were plucked, the cold hitting their skin caused tiny bumps to appear.)
   Some scientists think goose bumps in mammals are a defensive reaction. When all of the hair stands up, an animal looks larger and appears more threatening to its stalker. Another explanation is that goose bumps create warmth in mammals — when the hair stands up, it creates a fluffier layer of hair for the animal to conserve heat. Human body hair, however, has long-since been long enough to conserve heat when we get goose bumps.
Yawning
   When a person is in the act of pandiculation, or stretching, yawning occurs. Yet why do we yawn? It is yet another bizarre and somewhat mysterious action of humans, birds, reptiles and most mammals. Yawns occur from boredom and sleepiness; the average duration of a yawn is six seconds.
   Yawns are supposedly contagious. This may be because the yawn served at one time as a signal amongst a group of animals. When one group member yawned to signal an event, so did the other members. Now it is simply a leftover response that mammals continue to produce. But it’s fun to experiment. See if you can force another person to yawn after you yawn.
   You’ve probably heard that we yawn because of lack of oxygen. The explanation makes sense but is not proven. With boredom or sleepiness comes slower breathing and less oxygen in the lungs. Our bodies’ way of warning us of this imbalance is to yawn. It is saying, "Hey buddy, take a breath!" Test this theory: Next time you feel an urge to yawn, take a big breath to see if you can stifle it.
   (Did reading about yawns make you want to yawn?)
Sneezing
   Why do we say "God bless you" when someone sneezes? Some old wives tales say that the heart stops for a millisecond during a sneeze; to start it again, we utter those three words. Another theory states that we say it to prevent a soul from leaving the body or to keep evil spirits from invading it.
   But why do we sneeze at all? Sternutation, or sneezing, is our body’s way of removing an irritant from the inside of our noses. It could be a result of dust, pepper, cold air or from having a cold. For some, pollen and animal dander cause sneezing; for others, looking at a bright light makes a sneeze erupt. (Sneezing when exposed to bright light is actually an inherited trait. One in every 3 people is a photic — light — sneezer.)
   Our brains have a sneeze center, which receives the message that something is tickling the nose. The sneeze center then sends a message to the muscles which must work together to create a sneeze — a complicated process. It involves the muscles of the abdomen, chest, diaphragm, vocal cords, throat and eyelids. (Did you know when people sneeze they always close their eyes?) These muscles work together to remove the irritant which can fly out of a nose at up to 100 miles per hour. (Who actually tracked that?)
Hiccups
   What are those funny little noises that sometimes erupt from our mouths? A hiccup forms in our diaphragm, the muscle at the bottom of our chests. The diaphragm’s normal job is to pull and push air in and out of our lungs; it usually operates perfectly but can become irritated, causing a twitch which makes the breath come out irregularly and hit the voice box. Hiccups generally last a few minutes but cases have been noted of hiccups continuing for days or weeks (very unusual and usually a sign of a medical problem).
   Eating too fast or too much, a stomach or throat irritation, or nervousness and excitability can irritate the diaphragm.
   Everyone becomes a remedy expert when wanting to help rid a person of the hiccups; remedies include holding the breath, drinking from the other side of the glass, putting sugar under the tongue or scaring the person.
Eyelid twitching
   Eyelid twitching or eye spasms (scientifically known as ocular myokymia) are fairly common and shouldn’t raise concern (unless the twitch moves to other face parts).
   Most people experience eye spasms; the eye may begin twitching because of stress, caffeine or lack of sleep and will resolve itself. If a twitch is bothersome enough to try a remedy, place a warm cloth over the eye, reduce the stress and caffeine, massage the eye gently or lubricate it with eye drops.
Despite the fact that you will unlikely ever gain control over these involuntary reactions, you now at least have a little knowledge about their origins. And while the knowledge may not make you sleep easier, at least you can have some fun explaining the phenomena to your friends.