PDA

View Full Version : Food in my lungs?


Spontaneouslemon
Jun 9, 2011, 01:54 PM
I was eating eggs on bread, took a bite and chewed. As I was chewing, pieces of the egg slid down my throat half-way, I coughed a little but then let it slide completely since it was too far down. I barely coughed and am convinced it went down without my swallowing at all. In other words I worried that it may have gotten into my lungs? Is that crazy?
I read some symptons and after-effects if something like this happens and I feel like some do apply to me such as wheezing, and slight dizziness. But the wheezing may also just be my stuffed nose, and I may just be hungover.
Anyway, I may just be freaking myself out BUT just want to make sure. Is it possible to get food in your lungs without coughing uncontrollably first?

Help!

tickle
Jun 9, 2011, 02:09 PM
No, it didn't go into your lungs, it went into your trachea. No, you are not in trouble, just relax.

Tick

Wondergirl
Jun 9, 2011, 02:59 PM
Into his trachea, his windpipe? And then he coughed it out? (Wikipedia: "Mucus lines the cells of the trachea to trap inhaled foreign particles which the cilia then waft upwards towards the larynx and then the pharynx where it can either be swallowed into the stomach or expelled as phlegm.")

0rphan
Jun 29, 2011, 12:22 PM
You actually can get food into your lungs but it is very difficult, there is a separate opening to your lungs that closes when you swallow... I'm sure you did swallow as an automatic reaction.