Ear Whacks | New Scientist

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Why does having something pushed into my ear make me cough?

• This phenomenon is called Arnold’s ear-cough reflex. It occurs in about 2 per cent of the population and was first described in 1832 by Friedrich Arnold, professor of anatomy at Heidelberg University in Germany.

The vagus (Latin for “wanderer”) nerve arises in the brain stem and provides a nerve supply to the external ear canal, larynx, heart, stomach and intestine. Stimulation of the auricular branch of the nerve by objects inserted into the ear canal causes a reflex stimulation of the laryngeal branches of the vagus, which produces the cough in susceptible people.…

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