Easy Way to Swallow a Big Pill

The expression that something is "a difficult pill to consume" isn't just a metaphor. Swallowing pills can be hard and downright unpleasant. It causes one in three people to gag, vomit, or choke. That may keep people from sticking to their medication routines, which can make them sicker.

"We frequently come across people who can swallow food and liquid just fine, just have difficulty with pills. Some people have an aversion to swallowing pills, and others have physical issues that touch their ability to swallow," says Denise Ambrosi, director of the Voice communication-Linguistic communication Pathology Section at Harvard-affiliated Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital.

How to swallow a pill

A written report by researchers from the University of Heidelberg in Germany may assistance people with pill swallowing difficulties. They suggest 2 techniques that can assistance people better their ability to get medicine down. Their written report was published in the Annals of Family Medicine.

Popular-canteen method to swallow pills.

Paradigm Credit: Register of Family unit Medicine

The pop-bottle method is designed for swallowing tablets:

• Fill up a plastic h2o or soda bottle with h2o.
• Put the tablet on your tongue and close your lips tightly around the canteen opening.
• Accept a potable, keeping contact between the bottle and your lips and using a sucking movement to swallow the water and pill. Don't allow air get into the bottle.

Researchers asked near 140 people with difficulty swallowing pills to test this method with their eyes closed, swallowing big and very large pills. The result: a sixty% improvement in swallowing over the old method of just taking a sip of water from a cup and trying to swallow.

Study participants had even more success with a technique for swallowing capsules called the lean-frontwards method:

Lean-forward method to swallow pills.

Image Credit: Annals of Family unit Medicine

• Put a sheathing on your natural language.
• Take a sip of water only don't swallow.
• Tilt your mentum toward your chest.
• Swallow the capsule and h2o while your head is aptitude.

This technique showed an improvement of 89% over the onetime method of taking a sip of water from a cup and trying to swallow.

You can download a handout demonstrating these techniques from the Annals of Family unit Medicine.

Don't try this at dwelling

Only don't rush to attempt out these pill-swallowing techniques, warns Ambrosi. "The report mainly found that people'southward perceptions of pill swallowing changed," she says. It'south true; researchers simply asked participants if their pills went down easier, they didn't get whatsoever images of what was happening physiologically during the swallowing tests, or measure concrete differences.

So it's non a given that one of these methods will work for y'all or be safe for you, especially if y'all have a difficult time swallowing pills. "You'll demand a thorough assessment first. Perhaps at that place's something causing the swallowing problems that would merely be identified with an instrumental swallowing cess," says Ambrosi.

Difficulty swallowing is called dysphagia. Information technology can exist caused by bug with nerves or muscles. Quite a few of those are involved in the swallowing process — 25 pairs of muscles in the mouth and pharynx help gear up your food for swallowing. When yous swallow, your airway closes and you stop breathing for a moment. Trouble with the coordination of any of the fretfulness and muscles involved in the process tin lead to choking or getting food or liquid into your lungs, potentially causing a type of pneumonia.

What y'all tin do to help swallow pills more easily

Until yous know what's behind your swallowing issues, here are a few things you lot can exercise to make swallowing medicine a picayune easier:

• Put a pill in absurdity or pudding. The texture tin arrive easier to swallow pills whole.
• Grind a pill into a pulverization and add it to applesauce or pudding.
• Cut a pill with a pill splitter and swallow the smaller pieces i by ane.

Brand sure you ask your pharmacist if it's okay to cut or grind a medication. Timed-release or enteric-coated medicines shouldn't be broken apart. It may besides be possible to go your medicine in some other course, such as a powder, cream, or liquid, and then don't hesitate to enquire.

If you take problem swallowing pills or anything else, don't put off getting an evaluation. Start with your principal care physician, who will likely refer you to an ear, nose, and throat specialist or to a speech-language pathologist for a swallowing assessment. Facing the possibility that you take a swallowing disorder may be a hard pill to swallow, but learning ways to overcome it will make your future of taking medication a lot safer.

Image: agrobacter/Getty Image

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January seven, 2015

Consume pills is very disgusting for. I don`t like to have this pills.Simply after knowing these two tricks about swallow pills it has go very piece of cake for me.
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I find swallowing circle shaped pills, a tad difficult.
But rolled shaped I have no trouble just can non work out why.

stenny fandy

January 3, 2015

really overnice information! i have ever have a trouble when taking those pills. now i will keep certain to try this tips. give thanks you so much!

Avinash Dhameliya

December 17, 2014

Squeamish information, good stuff with good ideas and concepts, lots of great data and inspiration, both of which nosotros all need; ,……!

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I didn't know at that place are others likewise who can't swallow pills !! it's nightmare for me , very annoying . I surely try these technique hope it helps thanks

Thank you for this article and the comments. I have difficulty swallowing 10 two… scleroderma and a site from a tracheostomy. I institute Greek (thicker) yoghurt helps and it'south piece of cake to proceed fresh in the fridge. Also, I found pocket-sized high-quality caplets of vitamins (Rainbow Light Mini Tablets, calcium/magnesium (New Chapter Bone Strength), and soft gel ibuprofen (Walgreens and other stores). All-time regards to all.

My mother and I had this trouble with overlarge vitamin pills. A very uncomplicated solution (disregarded for years past us) was to buy the chewable vitamins that are drupe flavored with the consistency of sticky bears.

Bonnie Kaplan

November twenty, 2014

Although I appreciate the thoughtful article, I practise think that the method we are using up here in Canada has a close to 100% success rate, and people love it. And we have posted a training video — possibly people who practise not succeed with the pop bottle system might like to have a look:
research4kids.ucalgary.ca/pillswallowing

I'm an SLP and I accept terrible difficulty with pills of any size. So bad that I am in the percent of those that gag the pills back into the oral cavity and often vomit . I also gag when brushing my teeth and so my gag is hypersensitive . However, I have found the Valsalva in conjunction with the Masako techniques assistance adjutant swallowing pills for me but I would say at almost 75% . So volition definitely endeavor your bento ones techniques about the h2o bottle equally I accept tried the 2nd me to ones technique simply has not worked for me

I'm a SLP and I accept difficulty swallowing pills. I always thought it was a psychological thing but I had to have my esophagus stretched last year considering I all of a sudden couldn't swallow ane dark.

Shelley

November 17, 2014

I have MS and have trouble swallowing pills . I institute your article very informative . Thanks for the tips.

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November 17, 2014

It's hard to imagine that somebody may accept problems with swallowing medicines, but this article may be useful and helpful for people who had not such an experience earlier)

Joshua Vogel

November xvi, 2014

Just a tip for other who might read this. I find that swallowing just one pill will ever get stuck. But I was very surprised to larn that swallowing 2-3 pills at a time is MUCH easier!! I know, it doesn't brand sense, but it works, endeavour it out.

Isobel staude

November 14, 2014

This is amazing! I have always battled to eat pills. Both these ways of swallowing accept helped me tremendously. Thank-y'all!

My trick is to take a mouthful of food and chew it really well. Then put the pill in and swallow it all together. I never have a problem. If it's something actually succulent this method can encourage a kid similar nothing else.

Nameless

November xvi, 2014

I use this technique to take pills when I am lazy to get and become a cup of water.

Theresa

November xiii, 2014

These harvard newsletters are invaluable and a great source of knowledge. I was peculiarly pleased to learn about difficulty in swallowing. I take a paralysed larynx and an atrophied vocal cord so fifty-fifty eating normal food is a difficulty. Once over again many thanks indeed.

Michelle

November 13, 2014

With my dad with LBd that monster form of Parkinson's I have to take a canteen cap place the pills in so he can take them. He has to exist told to tilt his caput then the consume happens. When he was in the rehab I call dying centers they presumed he had a swallowing silent aspiration. I knew it was dissimilar. He has had a narrow opening in throat similar I do from sinus conditions. He has had clear breast x'rays. I always appreciate learning everything I can to aide my dad and myself live a meliorate life. Sincerely Michelle who was merely a associates of science in medical assistants studies who feels more like a Nurse than daughter.

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Source: https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/two-tricks-make-easier-swallow-pills-201411137515

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