coughing

What exactly is the purpose of coughing?  What does it do to help the body?  Why does it happen?  Why is it at times when I have a bad cough, I also get headaches for a short time after the cough?

[National Jewish]

Coughing is a good thing!!!!! The cough reflex, whether from within your lungs or in the back of your throat, protects you from having foreign material (dust, infections, smoke etc) from settling in your lungs. Coughing can be done voluntarily, but most often comes from reflexes in the airways. When there is an irritation of the reflex area (something in the back of your throat or in your lungs that should not be there) the reflex is activated to the brain and you force air out of your lungs rapidly and this is called a cough. Coughing changes blood flow and blood pressure from its intensity and therefore different people experience different other effects, such as headaches after coughing. This is not uncommon. I hope this helps you to understand coughing a little better.