What happens when you swallow something down the 'wrong pipe'

this has probably happened to you you're drinking something and then all of a sudden it feels like you're choking we usually say it just went down the wrong pipe but what does that even mean is there really a wrong pipe it turns out there is you have two main pipes in your throat the trachea which is used to breathe and the esophagus which is used to swallow food and drink when something goes down your trachea instead of your esophagus it's called aspiration you immediately start coughing which helps anything in the trachea move to the esophagus why does this happen in the first place it all depends on a small flap called the epiglottis which covers your larynx protecting the trachea but sometimes your brain forgets to close your epiglottis usually while you're distracted or semi-conscious while swallowing so the trachea is the wrong pipe the right pipe is your esophagus normally coughing can fix the problem but cases of pneumonia can occur if any of that food or liquid makes its way down your trachea and into your lungs the best way to avoid this is to focus on what you're doing when you're eating and drinking if it happens just COFF until you feel like your trachea clears and if it persists or you have consistent trouble swallowing consult your doctor you

Channel: Business Insider

Views: 648,999

Rating: 4.8661065 out of 5

Keywords: Business Insider, Swallowing, Science, Health, Throat, Wrong pipe, Choking, Aspiration, trachea, esophagus, epiglottis, Digestion, Physiology

Id: RYsz2Od5jDQ

Length: 1min 24sec (84 seconds)

Published: Mon Nov 07 2016