Can inhaling helium from a balloon make you pass out?

The bottom line. A one-off breath of helium from a small balloon for a laugh is unlikely to be catastrophic, but it can cause dizziness and make you pass out.

What can helium do to your throat?

When you breathe in helium, your voice travels much more quickly across your vocal cords. This results in the funny sounds you make when you talk after breathing helium. Some people think that the helium changes the pitch of your voice. In reality, however, your vocal cords vibrate at the same frequency.

Can your throat hurt from inhaling helium?

Vocal Cords The reason most people inhale helium is to change the pitch of their voice. However, helium can do serious damage to your larynx if used too much. Helium makes that vibration much faster and as a result causes a sore throat or worse, permanent voice damage.

Can helium cause a cough?

These reactions cause obstruction of the airway, tightness in the chest, coughing and wheezing. If severe, these symptoms can lead to shortness of breath and low levels of oxygen in the blood.

Can sucking helium from a balloon kill you?

While sucking helium from a balloon probably won’t kill you – you’re most likely to pass out from lack of oxygen, Slate reported – taking in helium from pressurized tanks, hoods, or masks (or stepping inside a giant helium balloon) is a completely different story. And far, far more dangerous.

What would happen if you inhale helium?

Damage the lungs and cause air bubbles. Inhaling helium can induce a cerebral arterial gas embolism caused by air bubbles in our bloodstream. Even worse, it can lead to a temporary stroke. Unfortunately, this fact is used in suicide bags design. Inhaling helium from a balloon can make the lungs get an intense pressure.

Does helium get you High?

Adolescents using helium reported that it makes them feel like poisoned. Still, it is uncertain whether the users get an actual “high” from inhaling it, or it is just the feeling of dizziness as a result of the lack of oxygen. Experts believe that it is a very dangerous activity that could cause a serious health problems.

What happens to a helium balloon when it rises?

A filled helium balloon rises because of the simple fact that helium is lighter than air. What happens to the helium balloon as it rises? As altitude increases, the density of the atmosphere decreases. So as a latex helium balloon rises, the outside air pressure diminishes, while the pressure from inside of the balloon remains the same.