What happens if food or water goes down your windpipe?

Food and water are supposed to go down the esophagus and into the stomach. However, when food ‘goes down the wrong pipe,’ it is entering the airway. This gives food and water the opportunity to get into the lungs. If food or water gets into the lungs, this can cause aspiration pneumonia.

What happens if you inhale food into your windpipe?

When food, drink, or stomach contents make their way into your lungs, they can damage the tissues there. The damage can sometimes be severe. Aspiration also increases your risk of pneumonia. This is an infection of the lungs that causes fluid to build up in the lungs.

Can liquid go down your windpipe?

Aspiration occurs whenever secretions, food or liquid goes down “the wrong pipe” and enters the airway or lungs. This often results in coughing or choking sensation. However, many individuals who aspirate do not sense the material going the wrong way.

How to dislodge food stuck in the windpipe?

Alka-Seltzer or baking soda. An effervescent drug like Alka-Seltzer may help break down food that’s stuck in the throat. Effervescent drugs dissolve when mixed with a liquid. Similar to soda, the bubbles they produce when dissolving may help disintegrate the food and produce pressure that can dislodge it.

Can food go down windpipe?

Food can indeed go down the wrong pipe. Under normal circumstances, the epiglottis closes properly and food goes down the esophagus. If the epiglottis doesn’t close the way it is supposed to, food can accidentally get down inside the trachea as you swallow.

What happens if you get a piece of food in Your Lung?

If a small piece of food has really entered the lungs, then a pulmonologist will need to evaluate you as to whether you will need a procedure known as a bronchoscopy to remove it. Any foreign material in the lung can cause irritation directly, or serve as a focus for infectious growth, so seeing a doctor promptly is important.

What happens when food goes into the lungs?

When food or a liquid enters the lungs, it is called aspiration pneumonia23. One of the symptoms of aspiration pneumonia is a frequent cough that brings up bad-smelling phlegm that may have blood streaks or pus in it or if you experience chest pain when you cough23.