Bodily Functions Explained: The Cough

It’s an everyday occurrence. A little tickle in your throat, a wayward speck of pollen, perhaps—or a bit of water traveling down the wrong pipe—and then a full-on chain reaction in your body. Your torso lurches forward with force as your esophagus slams shut then opens wide again. In between, your lungs compress in a short burst and abdominal and rib muscles contract to push the equivalent of most of a two-liter bottle’s worth of air out of your windpipe in a fraction of a second. A cough has been born.