Why are hick-up and coughs so physicaly hard on the body?
150332
because it is caused by contractions in the diaphram (the muscle under ur lungs) :) (check out my question..no1 has answered it yet... lol)
167
Hiccups are sudden, involuntary contractions of the diaphragm muscle. As the muscle contracts repeatedly, the opening between your vocal cords snaps shut to check the inflow of air and makes the hiccup sound. Irritation of the nerves that extend from the neck to the chest can cause hiccups.\n\nAlthough associated with a variety of ailments (some can be serious such as pneumonia or when harmful substances build up in the blood for example from kidney failure), hiccups are not serious and have no clear reason for occurring.
978987
""NO""!!!!! Coughing puts extra Pressure and Strain on the Heart and Lungs. It also constricts the Muscles around the Heart, Chest and Lungs which cause Hypoxia, lack of Oxygen. This is the # one cause of a Heart Attack, Hypoxia. Herbert West III Disabeled Former Paramedic/ACLS-I {Advanced Cardiac Life Support-Instructor}, A.H.A. {AMERICAN HEART ASSOCIATION} CPR-I {CARDIO PULMINARY RECESSITAION-INSTRUCTOR} , Journalist. west.herb@yahoo.com
702208
Umm...men push out their chests when breathing hard, too.  It's just more noticable on women.
966851
This is not a stupid qusetion.  When food 'goes down the wrong pipe' it goes down the trachea to the lungs instead of down the esophagus to the stomach.  The reason we cough is because our body does not want foreign objects in our lungs.  Coughing causes the object to be worked out of the lungs.  Should something stay in the lungs this can cause an infection called aspiration pneumonia which can be very serious.
1040351
I believe they are caused by body parts that rub up against each other such as your arm rubbing up against your chest. I don't have any website to prove it...Sorry.
129053
There are two common types of disease. Bacterial and viral. People become sick by either being exposed to a large amount of a particular germ (bacterial or viral) or being exposed to one their immune system doesn't yet know how to fend off.\n\nWhy do people often get a runny nose and a cough/sneeze? When your body is fighting a disease, it builds up excess waste in the lungs (especially if it's a respiratory disease) the body removes this waste bay causing you either to sneeze or cough or making your nose run.\n\nWhy do people get a fever? A common way for your body to fight an infection is to overheat your body so that the bacteria or virus will no longer be able to survive.
470551
Pressure changes cause the diaphragm to contract quickly causing hick ups - more air is needed to balance the pressure - hence hold your breathe to stop hick ups
167529
it's not dangerous but can be a sign of bronchitis, an upper respiratory infection, or a result of heavy smoking. If you smoke try to cut back and it won't be so bad. If your sick take chest congestion medication and it will relent within a few days.
904917
It is an extremity and requires blood to maintain the proper body temperature. Extra blood  going there to increase the temperature makes them hard
681597
Sounds like you have an infection. \nLumps of green weird stuff that you cough up (called "sputum", but the way) can usually come from quite a range of infections, but mainly they are due to bacteria or a virus.\nA cough that produces sputum, along with other signs of getting a cold, namely: headache, runny nose, sore throat etc etc are due to viruses. \nHowever, when you are infected by a virus, your body's defences are low and there may be another infection that occurs at the same time, for example, a bacteria infection. Which means, when you are sick, the things you feel and experience can be due to many different organisms (well, virus isn't quite an organism but we won't get into that). \nThat's why sometime when you get a cold, a doctor will give you antibiotics. These are drugs that will kill the bacteria in the infection. However, it will NOT affect the virus.\nYour body will take care of that.\n\nAfter all that jibberish, the take home message is: If you feel sick, got a sore throat and headache, get some rest and drink lots of water (if you go to the doctor he'll tell you to do that too but he'll charge you an arm and leg for it). \n\nBUT, if you feel S**T, and have a fever, bodyache (when you just feel crap all over your body...a bit hard to describe but you know it when you have it), and more miserable than your average cold, go see a doctor.\nGreen sputum on its own should not worry you if you haven't got the other symptoms. But if things change, consider how bad you feel (that is often the best judge of how well/unwell you are), and go see a doctor if you feel crap.
63412
because it is cold\n\nthis could happen if you have asthma, bronchitis,if you are a smoker, or are around smoke all of the time; it could also happen if you yell alot or are hoarse, or if your throat is sore; it could also happen if you have a repsiratory infection\n\ndo you cough every single time you have ever eaten it? if not, it is no big deal, but if it happens every now and then it would be because of the things I listed above
275719
Mild pain with coughing may be entirely normal (like due to a simple chest muscle strain), but in general cough-associated chest pain indicates irritarion of the lining of the lung called the pleura.  There may be many reasons for such irritation, some of which are serious.  Some of these reasons include infection (like a pneumonia), clot in the lungs (pulmonary embolism) or even a tear of the pleura called pneumothorax.  A broken rib may cause such pain as well.  The bottom line is if you have significant chest pain with coughing (and especially if you are short of brath), you should see your physician as soon as possible.
266380
I have copd. What I cough up is extremely thick and not always the same color. It's gray to yellow usually.\n\nMy doctor said when it is almost hard because it is so thick it is what they call a "plug". That is what clogs the tubes to your lungs and make it difficult to breathe. When you use your inhaler it breaks this up and you have to cough it up so you can breathe easier.\n\nIf I cough up the clear, slimy stuff I know there is more coming in order to breathe, I have to have the really gross plug come up.\n\nI never thought I would be talking like this to another human being(besides my doctor). This is too much and you actually want to know about it....
794798
basically the lungs cant function and become "fibrotic" or very hard.
341045
ouch. Maybe you have developed asthma.  Better see your doc.
720638
I actually had a pediatrician tell me that when you have a child with congestion, you can firmly pat their back and have them cough at the same time to loosen any phlegm or mucous that may be in the lungs or obstructing an airway; maybe this Argentinian was just a lot more forceful, if it was indeed a life or death situation.