SCIENCE29 - Annoying Body Sounds
I started out thinking I was going to write about the causes of sneezing, yawning, and hiccups. Pat and I had discussed this as a potential blog topic, and it looked like a “go.” But things quickly got out of hand: I kept adding items to the list (my curiosity is unlimited), to include such physiological “disturbances” as coughing, belching, flatulence, stomach growling, snoring, creaking joints, and ringing ears (tinnitus). When I looked at the expanded list, I realized that these bodily disturbances had such diverse causes as involuntary reflexes, buildup of gas, restricted air flow through the nose or mouth, rubbing of tendons and ligaments, hunger, and damage to the inner ear’s hair cells. The only thing these 10 “afflictions” had in common is that they all produced sounds that were annoying (to the producer of the sound, nearby listener, or both). Hence the title of this blog: “Annoying Body Sounds.” Full disclosure, I “suffer” from 8 out ...