Why does using a cotton bud in my ear (ie sticking it in and twirling it round) always make me cough?
George Foster, Thames Ditton, UK
- A small branch of the vagus nerve supplies the tympanic membrane. Stimulation of this nerve causes the cough reflex. This is a normal physiological reflex. The Romans would vomit between courses. One method they used to ellicit vomiting was to ellicit the above reflex with a small feather.
James, Leicester, UK
