How to deal with a fish bone stuck in your throat. Do I have to go to the hospital?

Fish bones often get stuck in your throat during meals. Since ancient times, many people have said, "If you circle the rice, the fish bones will come out," but in fact, this method is highly dangerous, so you need to be careful. So this time, we're going to talk about the right way to deal with fish bones stuck in your throat and when you need to see a doctor.

1. Is it okay to leave the fish bones stuck in your neck unattended?

Fish bones are often stabbed in the inside of the tongue or tonsils, but there are many people who feel anxious because they feel clear pain. Here we're going to talk about how fish bones get stuck.

Most of the time, they are caught naturally

Since humans have a self-purification action to remove foreign substances from the body, most fish bones are pushed out of the mucous membrane and removed naturally even if they are stuck in the throat. Therefore, if there is no bleeding and there is no major pain, it often falls out if left unattended overnight.

Fish bones won't melt even if left unattended

Human saliva contains digestive enzymes called amylase and maltase, but it does not have a strong effect on fish bones to melt. Small fish bones are often caught naturally within a night or a few days, but most of them are naturally removed by self-purification, not by melting the bones.

2. How to remove fish bones stuck in your throat

Here's how to catch fish bones when they're stuck in your throat.

drink water

Small fish bones can fall out naturally if you swallow water or saliva slowly. If you feel a stinging pain with a fish bone stuck in your throat, stop eating for now and calmly swallow water or saliva several times.

brush one's teeth

Small fish bones may fall out if you brush your teeth with water. Let's brush our teeth a few times with the image of consciously washing away the fish bone. However, if a thick fish bone is stuck in your throat, excessive brushing may cause bleeding, so be careful.

3. What you shouldn't do to remove fish bones stuck in your throat

Here's an explanation of the wrong way to deal with a fish bone stuck in your throat.

swallow whole rice

It has long been known that "when a fish bone is stuck in your throat, it falls off when you swallow the whole rice," but this countermeasure is wrong. If you swallow whole rice without chewing it, there is a risk of choking by being clogged in your throat, and the symptoms are likely to worsen as shown below.

• The fish bone stuck in my throat goes deeper and won't come out easily
• It can damage the throat mucous membrane and cause infection

If the fish bone is deeply embedded, there is a risk that it will not fall out easily in the hospital, so let's not just circle the rice.

pick up with tweezers

If you see a stabbed fish bone when you open your mouth, you want to remove it with tweezers or fingers, but it's likely to damage the mucous membrane, so let's stop. If you try to force it off with tweezers, you can push the bone under the mucous membrane or break only the outer part of the bone, making it impossible for an otolaryngologist to find it.

4. If you need to see a doctor

If you try to forcibly remove the fish bone by yourself, there is a risk of damaging the throat mucous membrane or going deep into the throat. Therefore, if you have the following symptoms, see a doctor.

When a big, hard bone like sea bream or salmon gets stuck in your throat,

If a thick and hard bone such as sea bream, salmon, or defense is stuck in your throat, there is a possibility of bleeding or inflammation, so see an otolaryngologist immediately. If a thick and long fish bone is stuck in the throat or esophagus, it may penetrate deep into the body and damage the thick blood vessels or heart, causing dangerous conditions, so emergency outpatient treatment is recommended even on holidays.

When fish bones don't come out even if you leave it for one night

Thin and small bones such as horse mackerel, eel, and saury are often removed naturally, but if they are left unattended overnight, see an otolaryngologist. If the fish bone is left stuck in the neck for a long time, it can cause inflammation in the wound and worsen due to swelling or festering. If you don't know if your bones are separated, see an otolaryngologist. Even if there is not much pain, pus may accumulate behind the neck.

When your sore throat or discomfort gets worse,

When the sore throat or discomfort is getting worse, there is a high possibility of inflammation, so let's see a doctor as soon as possible. If it gets worse, pus may accumulate behind your neck and you may need an incision. In addition, there is no instrument to see the inside of the neck in internal medicine or pediatrics, so if a fish bone is stuck in the neck, make sure to see an otolaryngologist.

If you can't swallow a lot of bleeding, go to the emergency outpatient clinic

If the fish bone is stuck in your throat and the pain is so severe that it is difficult to swallow it, see an emergency outpatient immediately. Since fish bones are harder and sharper than human organs, there is a risk of life-threatening if they penetrate the esophagus and damage the aorta.

5. How to prevent fish bones from getting stuck in your throat

It is important to chew well and eat slowly to avoid stabbing fish bones in your throat.

Especially when you eat fried horse mackerel or eel, which is hard to recognize bones, you should chew it consciously. There are also reports that if you chew more than 30 times until you swallow it, it will become less than 10mm of debris and prevent fish bones from getting stuck in your throat. In addition, research data shows that 94% of patients who received hospital treatment with fish bones stuck in their necks were under the age of 10, so let's chew well especially when feeding fish to children. In some cases, young children may not be able to convey symptoms even if they have fish bones stuck in their necks, so if the condition is abnormal as shown below, please see an otolaryngologist as soon as possible.

• I ate fish, but I stopped eating after meals
• My mouth is watering after eating fish
• have difficulty swallowing
• be in pain/fever after eating fish

In addition, in recent years, fish processed with boneless meat are often sold at supermarkets, so it is recommended to make good use of boneless fish or boneless fish when your child is young.

6. If you are anxious, do not neglect the otolaryngology treatment

If the fish bone stuck in the neck is small, it often falls out naturally, but there are many people who rarely fall out and receive medical treatment. If a sore throat or bleeding is left unattended, it may worsen, so 'only with fish bones...'Don't think of it as 'Let's see an otolaryngologist. Also, it is important to enjoy a meal slowly because chewing more than 30 times greatly reduces the risk of fish bones getting stuck in your throat.