There are many people who do not have trouble swallowing beverages and food, but find it problematic when it comes to pills. While some people find it difficult to swallow pills, others have physical problems swallowing them.
Physical difficulty with swallowing is called dysphagia, and it may be due to problems with nerves or muscles. There are 25 muscle pairs in the mouth and throat that help with swallowing food. As you swallow, the trachea closes, which stops breathing so the food does not get in to the trachea and cause choking. Problems with coordinating all these muscles may therefore cause one to choke or to get fluid or food into the lungs, and can cause pneumonia.
A German study may help people who have difficulties swallowing pills. They suggest two different techniques that helped their subjects swallow their medication.
The pop-bottle method
The method is designed to swallow tablets and it performed as follows:
1. Fill a flexible water bottle with water
2. Place the tablet on the tongue and seal the opening of the bottle tight with your lips
3. Take a sip while the lips maintain contact to the bottle by making a suction motion, but without allowing air to enter the bottle
4. You should feel that the bottle hugs itself as you suck
Researchers asked about 140 people, who all had difficulties swallowing, to test this method with closed eyes. They had to swallow large and very large pills. The result was an improvement of 60% compared with the previous method used by the subjects, who only took a sip of water from a cup and tried to swallow the pill.
The lean-forward method
This method is designed to swallow capsules and is performed as follows:
1. Put a capsule on your tongue
2. Take a sip of water without swallowing
3. Tilt your chin against your chest
4. Swallow the capsule while your head is tilted forward
This technique was even more successful than the “pop-bottle”, with an overall improvement of 89% compared to the previous method of the test subjects.
However, the researchers point out that the study has not been confirmed as being a helpful treatment option, as they have only studied the sensation of swallowing. Because researchers simply asked the participants whether it was easier to swallow pills using the methods, they do not have any images of what physically occurred during the swallowing test, nor did they measure physical differences. For this reason, it is neither a given that these methods work for you or that they are safe for you. You need a thorough assessment first.
There may be something that causes difficulty in swallowing, which would only be identified with an instrumental swallowing assessment at a doctor’s office - e.g. that you are suffering from dysphagia.
Until you know the underlying cause, it may be beneficial to try the following:
- Mix the pill in some food with a pudding-like consistency as it makes it easier to swallow the pill.
- Crush the pill into powder and mix it with some liquid-food such as pudding *.
- Cut the pill into smaller parts and swallow them one by one *.
* It is important to ask your doctor if the pill can be crushed, as it is not all medicine that can withstand it in relation to the body's absorption of the substance. It is also possible that some medicine can be obtained in a form other than a pill, e.g. as a liquid, powder or cream. You can ask your doctor or pharmacist about this.
Sources:
1. http://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/two-tricks-make-easier-swallow-pills-201411137515
