Not so obvious

Barbara Braithwaite, Safe Swallowing Team • August 16, 2020

Almost everyone at some time, has experienced food or drink ‘going down the wrong way’. That feeling and subsequent coughing fit, isn’t fun at all. As unpleasant as that coughing is, it’s the body’s protective mechanism to stop whatever you’ve swallowed going into your airway and down to your lungs. Food obviously doesn’t belong there because food in the lungs can cause an infection or pneumonia.

 

For well over half of our elderly population with a compromised swallowing function, there are NO OUTWARD SIGNS that the food or drink ‘has gone down the wrong way’. The food simply SILENTLY heads down to the lungs and sits there until the resident becomes ill.

Education about Safe Swallowing is essential in caring for our elderly population, in Aged Care or at home.



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