Trachea question?

Question

About how big does an foreign object or piece of food need to be in order to get lodged in the trachea in a serious manner for an adult?

Why is it that some food one can cough back out of the trachea?

How come adults are better suited to eating candy than very very young children?

Thanks,

George

Answer 1

Kids are smaller, so they have smaller (more narrow) tracheas. Easier to get things stuck.

Answer 2

I agree with Darr except for one thing; why small children have more trouble with hard candy. The reason isn't teeth, it has to do with tongue movement. A small child doesn't have the lingual dexterity that an older child or adult has. Another reason is the neck hasn't elongated yet, and the larynx is higher up in the pharynx (throat), where foreign bodies are more likely to become lodged.
It is actually quite rare for something to become lodged in the trachea because there are three valves that protect the airway during swallowing; the epiglottis, and the false and true vocal cords. If something passes into the airway above the glottis (the space between the open vocal cords) in a healthy individual, the very strong cough reflex will expel it.

Answer 3

The surface of the larynx (the opening to the trachea) is only about three quarters of an inch in diameter. So anything that can cover that or get lodged in the opening/closing mechanism could cause a person to choke.

Food can be coughed back out of the trachea only if it doesn't catch on the larynx. Therefore if the food is dry and sticks to the inside of the trachea it may not be removed by simply coughing. Slippery foods or smaller peices can often easily be coughed up.

Many children still retain an automatic swollowing function activated while still in the womb that adults have had longer to learn how to override. (Maybe because we have had more years of trying bad food and having to choke it down). In any case, young children may inadvertantly swollow candies, hard ones in particular, while they are still too large because of this automatic swollowing reflex.

I hope this helps :)

Answer 4

an object can be any size and get lodged in the trachea. usually they say something like the width of a nickel. any object that obstructs the airway. (that keeps air from getting in and out of the body) is a serious manner. coughing is a natural reflex that is the bodies attempt to dislodge an object that is not supposed to be there-sometimes the attempt works sometimes it doesnt. Adults are better suited to eating candy because they have a full set of teeth so they can break up food easier.

Answer 5

Basically, your trachea is usually the size of the tip of your pinky finger. Children do not usually have enough control of thier swallowing muscles to prevent aspiration of candy.