What to do when food feels stuck in the throat

When there is food stuck in the throat, it will certainly feel very sticky and annoying. You will have difficulty swallowing food or saliva. This condition often occurs usually because food is not chewed until it is smooth or the texture is sharp and hard, such as fish spines and candy. These methods can relieve the discomfort from fish spines, candy, or other food stuck in your throat.

Why does food often get stuck in the throat?

Swallowing a food involves a series of processes that are quite complex. When ingesting food, more than 50 muscle tissue is working. The process starts from chewing it until it is smooth, moving food from the mouth to the throat until the food enters the upper digestive tract, namely the esophagus (esophagus) and ends in the stomach.

Food stuck in your throat is generally caused by not chewing your food properly. As a result, food that is still large in size is left in the esophagus.

Foods that are soft in texture may not settle in the esophagus even if you don't chew them thoroughly. However, foods such as candy, fish spines, chicken bones, and other solid foods can feel like they are stuck in your throat. This condition is usually referred to as "repetition".

When experiencing repetition, usually a lump in the throat immediately appears. This condition does not usually affect breathing. As described in the study from Emergency Medicine International , the food has actually passed through the airway and into the upper esophagus (near the throat). Therefore, there is a sensation like being stuck in the throat.

However, when you are back, you usually also experience symptoms such as coughing and difficulty swallowing saliva, so you often salivate from your mouth.

Overcoming food stuck in the throat

Repetition can be dangerous if it causes you to choke, which is when solid food gets into your airways. This condition can block the flow of air, making it difficult for you to breathe. To overcome this, special emergency help is needed.

Well, if you don't experience significant respiratory problems, you can still get rid of the feeling of sticking due to fish spines, bones or candy stuck in the throat in the following ways.

1. Perform first aid

You should never try to get a stuck food out by sticking your hand down your throat. The reason is, it can cause infection or injury, causing sore throat (pharyngitis), especially if you cannot guarantee the cleanliness of your hands.

The first thing you can try to deal with food stuck in your throat is a loud cough. In some cases, a strong cough can help to remove the fish spines that are trapped in the throat.

But if the repetition makes it difficult to speak, there are several ways you can do it as first aid. This way of dealing with stuck foods is done when you are helping others who are experiencing repetition.

• Position yourself next to or behind the person experiencing the burden, if he is a child you can kneel behind him. Then give your back 5 blows.
• Then give a push or pressure on the upper abdomen 5 times.
• Alternately, give 5 back blows and 5 stomach thrusts until the food is no longer stuck in the esophagus.

2. Drink soft drinks

Carbonated drinks can actually help remove food that is left in the esophagus. The carbon in soft drinks can relax the esophagus so that food that settles in can be flown back into the digestive tract.

Plus, the soda releases gas when it enters your stomach. The gas pressure can eventually release the stuck food.

3. Swallow other foods

Although this method actually doesn't make you very comfortable, swallowing other foods can actually push the food stuck in your throat. Choose soft or soft textured foods such as rice, porridge, bread dipped in milk or banana.

Even though you feel uncomfortable because your throat feels lumpy, eating soft foods can help push the stuck food into your stomach. However, make sure you also chew and swallow these foods slowly.

Food with a smooth and oily texture like marshmallows can help remove the spines of fish or the bones that are involved. After exposure to mucus in the throat, texture marshmallows turns sticky so that the spines can stick and be carried into the digestive tract.

4. Drink water, olive oil or salt water

Another way to deal with food stuck in your throat is to drink water. Normally, saliva acts as a food lubricant to make food pass through the esophagus.

However, when you chew food imperfectly, the food becomes drier due to a lack of saliva. Because of this, drinking water can make the stuck food more moist, so it can pass through your throat more easily.

Another way you can try to get rid of fish spines or bones stuck in your throat is to drink olive oil. Mix warm water with olive oil and drink it. Olive oil lubricates the esophagus, causing the thorns to soften and loosen.

After trying to do this remedy for repetition, you need to wait for the food to come down and enter the digestive tract for a few moments.

5. Simethicone

The use of simethicone drugs turned out to be quite effective in getting stuck food down to the stomach. Simethicone is a type of drug that can facilitate the flow of gas in the stomach. This drug is commonly used to treat flatulence.

Before taking this drug, first read the rules for use and the recommended dosage so you don't consume it too much. If you are in doubt, please ask your doctor to determine a safe dosage for your body.

Not only for food, the methods above can also be done when you or your child accidentally swallow a foreign object so that it gets stuck in the throat or esophagus.

When do you need medical assistance?

If you do not succeed in getting rid of the stiffness in the throat area with the methods mentioned above, you should immediately consult an ENT doctor.

Especially if the repetition you experience causes various complaints, such as sore throat that doesn't go away or swelling in the throat area.

Usually the doctor will take an X-ray and tell you to swallow a barium-based liquid. Another method that can be done is to do a laryngoscopy to look at the back of your throat.

For more severe cases, doctors usually recommend performing CT scans and endoscopy to see the level of damage to your esophagus or digestive tract due to swallowing fish bones.

If the airway is still blocked to the point that it is really difficult to breathe, seek emergency medical help or someone closest to you immediately. If you are helping others who are experiencing this, immediately begin using the assisted breathing technique (CPR) or the Heimlich Maneuver to treat a choking person.