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Curiosity Weekly

Why Do I Cough When I Clean My Ears?

Curiosity Weekly

Warner Bros. Discovery

Science

4.6964 Ratings

🗓️ 19 February 2021

⏱️ 13 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Learn about how Arnold’s ear-cough reflex can make you cough when you clean your ears; why it’s important to teach your kids about giving when they’re learning about money; and a hidden letter in the alphabet that you already sing.

Why do I cough when I clean my ears? by Ashley Hamer (Listener question from Rachita)

Teaching Kids about Money? Don't Forget Giving by Sonja Hodgen

There's a hidden letter in the alphabet song, and you already sing it by Cameron Duke

Subscribe to Curiosity Daily to learn something new every day with Cody Gough and Ashley Hamer. You can also listen to our podcast as part of your Alexa Flash Briefing; Amazon smart speakers users, click/tap “enable” here: https://www.amazon.com/Curiosity-com-Curiosity-Daily-from/dp/B07CP17DJY

 

Find episode transcript here: https://curiosity-daily-4e53644e.simplecast.com/episodes/why-do-i-cough-when-i-clean-my-ears


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Transcript

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0:00.0

Hi, you're about to get smarter in just a few minutes with Curiosity Daily from

0:04.8

Curiosity.com. I'm Cody Gough. And I'm Ashley Hamer. Today we'll answer a

0:09.0

listener question about why some people cough when they clean their ears. Then you learn about

0:13.5

something you shouldn't forget when you're teaching your kids about money and a

0:17.1

hidden letter in the alphabet that you already sing. Let's satisfy some curiosity.

0:21.1

We got a listener question from Rashita in India who writes,

0:25.0

The other day I was cleaning my ears using ear swabs and I started coughing.

0:30.0

I noticed this wasn't the first time.

0:32.0

This happened every time I cleaned my ears.

0:34.1

So my question to you is, why does this happen?

0:36.8

Great question.

0:38.2

There's a weird name for this tendency.

0:40.4

It's called Arnold's Ear Cough Reflex. Seriously. It's ear cough reflex.

0:43.0

Seriously.

0:44.0

It's rare. Only 2 to 4% of people experience it.

0:48.1

But here's why it happens.

0:50.0

Arnold's nerve is named after Friedrich Arnold, the 19th century German scholar who first described it.

0:56.8

And it's the nerve that delivers touch signals from your ear canal to your brain.

1:01.8

Arnold's nerve is a complicated little nerve.

1:05.0

It starts as a branch of the Vegas nerve,

1:08.0

which is a great big nerve that travels all the way through your body,

1:11.0

from your brain to your butt.

...

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