Fish Bone In Your Throat – what to do when choking?
Usually, a stuck fish bone isn’t immediately dangerous, but might make you feel a little bit panicky, as if you can’t breathe or swallow.
Your throat might swell up a bit around the bone, which can add to the tenderness. In some case, you might bleed a little, if you’ve been scratched.
1: Cough
Your first instinct will be to cough, and you should follow it. Coughing is your body’s first line of defence against all sorts of interlopers, from germs to soda that went down the wrong way. Oftentimes, coughing hard for a few minutes will blow enough air against the bone to dislodge it.
If that doesn’t work, keep on scrolling.
2: Swallow Olive Oil
Olive oil is a signature solution, because it’s a great lubricant. Oil won’t dissolve immediately in with your saliva and digestive juices the way water will, so it’s a better option for trying to wash the fish bone down. The oil will make the bones slick and slippery, and will also help to soften it and weigh it down so that you can swallow the bone away.
3: Gulp A Marshmallow
Lots of people swear by this method. Grab a big jumbo-sized marshmallow and pop it in your mouth. Chew it a tiny bit, just enough to make it melty and sticky, and small enough to swallow. As soon as possible, gulp the marshmallow down, swallowing it whole. The sticky goop of the confection should “grab” the bone from wherever it’s lodged and pull it straight down your gullet.
4: Dunk Bread In Warm Water
The bread method works a bit like the marshmallow method. Tear off a piece of dry bread and slightly dunk it in warm water or milk. Immediately ball up the bread and swallow it whole. The hope is that the rough texture of the bread, and the stickiness from the milk or water, will help to snag the bone from wherever it’s lodged and carry it away.
5: Go To The Doctor
If you’ve tried all of these methods and nothing is working, go to a doctor to get the bone removed. Usually, this can be done very quickly and painlessly, though in extreme cases, minor surgery may be required. In rare cases, injury from a fish bone may be life-threatening. You should also go to the doctor immediately if there is excessive bleeding (more than a drop), intense pain, a puncture wound, or a blockage in the airway.
6. Use LifeVac
The Lifevac is a non-powered portable suction apparatus developed for resuscitating a choking victim when the standard procedure of clearing the mouth of debris and the Heimlich maneuver have failed.
Available in Switzerland here!