Does swallowing it put it right back where it came from? I know this is gross, sorry :) Thanks to those who take me seriously.
2006-08-14 16:22:43 · 23 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Respiratory Diseases
Actually, phlegm comes from your lungs and respitory tract; to swallow it puts it in your stomach or digestive tract. I am very close with a doctor, and the doctor says to expell the phlegm not only for your reason, but there are billions of germs that can be transferred to another part of your body where it can possibly infect. There are infections and parasites that invade your body through your breathing, cultivate in your lungs, irratate them so they make phlegm, and then hitch a ride to your intestinal tract on your swallowed phlegm.
I wish you well.
2006-08-15 07:26:57 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Some people cannot cough the phlem up far enough to spit it out. Like me. It comes up to a certain point and then just gets swallowed down. I wish I could cough it out, I think it would be more beneficial to ending the cough faster.
2013-12-20 14:08:13 · answer #2 · answered by anonymous 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ick. Yeah, spit it out. Swallowing it just makes it sit there and fill up your tummy. I hate coughs with phlegm. They're the worst. There are expactorants that can help you get rid of it faster.
Hope you get better soon! And yeah, I'm taking your question seriously, because I just got over that stuff. Icky icky. Took me four weeks.
2006-08-14 23:29:12 · answer #3 · answered by D'oh! 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Spit
2006-08-14 23:26:08 · answer #4 · answered by Tim 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
either way -- it doesn't go back to your respiratory tract. swallowing wouldn't hurt, this goes to your esophagus (and not your trachea) down to your stomach and you later on expel this substance. spitting out is also an option... either way, when you cough the sputum out, more likely, it would not go back to where it came from. also coughing is good instead of all those sputum sitting in your lungs which can be a breeding ground for bacteria.
2006-08-15 18:46:20 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Spit it out, the phlegm comes from your lungs and swallowing it will put it in your stomach. Spit it out anyway.
2006-08-15 05:04:25 · answer #6 · answered by ღ♥ Cutie RRT ღ♥ 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
well its comes from your lungs it cant be swallowed back but i spit just to feel like im doing something for all that coughing
2006-08-14 23:27:29 · answer #7 · answered by gsschulte 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
spit it out, as much as u can...u gotta get it out. my doctor told me that if you swallow your phlem, it will cause upset stomach. the phlem will reach down to your stomach. i found out she was actually right about that theory. i know that it's not appropriate to spit everywhere, but do it whenever you can.
2006-08-14 23:30:03 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I dont know if it will help you recover faster. I do think that it make you feel better when it is out of your system and btw i think you spelled phlem wrong but i cant remember how to spell it right now
2006-08-14 23:32:23 · answer #9 · answered by dudeha 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
i would say spit it out.cough happens because of over secretion of mucous. and his over secretion happens because here is a virus or foreign elements that could harm our body. i say spit it up because it is what your body wants to do . coughing is just one of the responses of our body regarding foreign elements. of you will try to swallow it than it is not good because the foreign element stuck in the phlegm will just go to other parts of your body.
p.s. it is just my hypothesis but based on my learning about health.
2006-08-14 23:32:45 · answer #10 · answered by camelot 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋