What happens if i swallow a piece of gum?

introduction

Who does not know it? After the gum has been chewed, it is swallowed because it is straight no trash can nearby or you have just got used to it. It can also happen accidentally when you are frightened or drink something.

But what happens after swallowing chewing gum and whether there are risks behind it will be explained below.

Is that bad?

Basically, swallowing gum isn't a bad thing. Even if chewing gum is very sticky, the gastrointestinal tract with its slimy surface does not offer the swallowed object a chance to get stuck anywhere.

Once in the stomach, the body cannot do much with the gum because it cannot be digested by the body's own enzymes. Only the sugar it contains is metabolized by the body. The remaining chewing mass is transported further and further down the intestine by the movements of the digestive tract until it is finally excreted in the stool without the person noticing anything.

The bottlenecks in the gastrointestinal tract are also not a problem during passage. In summary, it can be said that swallowing chewing gum is okay and does not pose a health risk.

Risks of ingestion

As described above, there are basically no real risks in swallowing chewing gum as long as you actually swallow it.

The greater danger is that it will instead enter the windpipe and block the airways there. In the worst case scenario, you can no longer breathe and you suffocate. Fortunately, this rarely happens. Most of the time, the chewing gum can still be coughed out or due to its small size it only closes part of the airways, which still leads to breathing difficulties.

In such a situation you should stay as calm as possible and first try to get the gum out by coughing vigorously. If that doesn't work, the person should see a doctor quickly, who will remove the gum and clear the lungs again.

Therefore, parents are advised to take care that their Children do not chew gum during playful activities in your mouth, as there is a risk of something called Aspiration, that is, the gum getting into the windpipe, is increased.

What to do if the chewing gum is in your throat

If the chewing gum gets stuck in your throat, don't panic at first. There are several methods you can use to remove it on your own. For one thing, clearing the throat or coughing can loosen the gum and get it out. On the other hand, it is helpful to drink a glass of water with which the stuck mass can be rinsed away. Another method is to eat dry bread or rusks.

If all of these attempts do not help, there is no avoiding a visit to the doctor who will then professionally remove the chewing gum.

Can this lead to constipation?

As mentioned several times, if chewing gum is swallowed, it crosses the body without sticking to anything or clogging the digestive tract. So it can be said that the gum mass cannot cause constipation.

Although there are cases described in the specialist literature in which chewing gum has led to an intestinal obstruction, these were always people who swallowed large amounts of it every day. These formed a large lump in the intestine, which ultimately resulted in an occlusion of the digestive tract. From this it can be concluded that a single piece of chewing gum is not a problem, but that excessive swallowing can be dangerous.

Abdominal pain after swallowing chewing gum

Since chewing gum that is swallowed easily passes through the digestive tract, it shouldn't actually cause stomach pain. If you still feel pain afterwards, this may be due to the fact that you accidentally ate something before, which is now causing the discomfort. Another reason can be psychological.

If the chewing gum is accidentally swallowed and you wonder if that is bad, your body can play a trick on us and you actually feel a feeling of pain. This effect has a lot to do with the person's expectations.Assuming that something is harmful to us, pain can be felt even though there is no real trigger for it. In the case of stomach pain, it is therefore advisable to drink a tea for stomach upsets and not to worry about the chewing gum.

Read more at: Abdominal pain through the psyche

What happens if you swallow chewing gum while pregnant?

If you are pregnant and have swallowed a piece of chewing gum, there is nothing to worry about. After the chewing gum ends up in the gastrointestinal tract, it cannot be digested by our body. This means that no harmful substances are absorbed by the pregnant woman's body and that they do not reach the unborn child. Thus, if chewing gum is swallowed, it poses no danger to mother or baby.