WHY A COUGH MIGHT BRING ON A HEADACHE

THE surprising causes of head pain. This week: Coughing COUGHING, laughing, blowing your nose or sneezing can cause a sudden, though harmless, headache.

These are known as primary cough headaches (meaning the headache is caused by the cough itself) and typically last a few seconds to a few minutes.

They cause a sharp, stabbing pain, usually at the front of the head, though they may be followed by a dull, aching pain that lasts for hours (as the nerves continue to fire). ‘Cough headache may be a marker of problems with the pressure system — the level of pressure in the skull — in a small number of patients,’ says Dr Nick Silver, a leading consultant neurologist. He adds that it’s recommended that people who have a new onset headache ‘specifically precipitated by coughing’ should seek medical advice.