why does tilting your head back prevent you from crying?

Question

My friend told me that you can stop yourself from crying by tilting your head backwards and looking at the sky. She says that this makes it physically impossible to cry (even if you really really want to). Does this work? Can somebody tell me WHY this works? I can't understand how the angle of your head can affect the tear ducts, which appear to be in the bottom corner of your eye.....

Answer 1

Technically this is not really true. When you tilt your head back the tears just roll back under your eyelids...and sometimes you can leave them there if there is not a lot of tears. However if you have tears working up on your eyes you tilt your head back...they'll roll back but as soon as you put your head back down they will be back on your eyes although possibly in a smaller amount. Hope this helps!

~*V*~

Answer 2

your friend's wrong, tilting your head back won't prevent tears completely. They just won't come from the inner core or the middle of your eyes. If you tilt your head back they'll slid to the corners and fall out but basically THEY WILL COME OUT!

Answer 3

the tears will just roll into your ears instead of down your cheeks.