water down the "wrong pipe"?

Question

if you are drinking water or juice and you say, "ahh cough cough that hurt it just went down the wrong pipe, does it actually go into your lungs, or does it just feel that way. if it does go into your lungs, then how does it get out? thanks.

Answer 1

If your water goes into your trachea (windpipe) then you do cough a lot.

In some cases, it can get trapped (the windpipe and other air passages are lined with mucous to trap things that shouldn't be there) and be coughed up.

In other cases (depending a bit on the strength of your cough and how much was aspirated) the water can get down the windpipe and into the lungs. In this scenario, it can be trapped in mucous in the lungs and still be coughed up, or it might stay in the lungs until it was absorbed by the body.

In the case of juice or substances other than water, these things can cause a nasty chemical irritation to the lungs (aspiration pneumonia) and can make people quite sick.

If you are lucky, the water just gets trapped in the upper part of the windpipe (epiglottis and larynx)

Answer 2

Coughing is the body's natural reaction to solving the "wrong pipe" dilemma. It is in fact going down the "wrong pipe." The trachea to be specific. That's a no-go for food/liquid. Whenever you cough, it's because your body senses something is in the airways that shouldn't be there (Be it smoke, solids or liquids). Coughing will sometimes not be able to expel the matter, which then will cause choking or at the very least restricted airways (Medical emergency). The worst case scenario of pulmonary aspiration (The medical term for "wrong pipe") besides total asphyxiation (Unable to breathe) is pneumonia (A *serious* immune response in the lungs) but almost always, you cough and it gets back into the esophagus. A strong cough is actually surprising powerful, powerful enough to even cause an inguinal herniation (Part of the small intestines break through the muscle wall between your abdomen and groin).

Simple solution: Concentrate when you eat/drink, especially when you drink. There's a mental aspect to eating/drinking, your mind needs to be there else something, even something small and trivial will fail and cause it to deviate into the trachea. Many, many muscles are involved when eating/drinking and all must respond and work properly.

Answer 3

I've watched the pro bowl before - and I'll watch it again because - well - it's football. But I agree. This year sucks. I can't believe Peyton Manning is getting replaced by David Gerrard. That's just wrong.

Answer 4

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RE:
water down the "wrong pipe"?
if you are drinking water or juice and you say, "ahh cough cough that hurt it just went down the wrong pipe, does it actually go into your lungs, or does it just feel that way. if it does go into your lungs, then how does it get out? thanks.

Answer 5

It goes into your bronchial tube. If it actually reaches all the way to your lungs, it's called aspirational pneumonia. If it's only water, it will eventually be absorbed into your body. If it's food, it will probably stay there.

Answer 6

I learned about this before. i just forgot. I think the epiglottis is suppose to block it from going the wrong way or something. Sorry I'm no help.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Esophagus

Answer 7

I think it does or at least come close to it. It wont kill you though the coughing you experiance after expells it.

Answer 8

im not sure i think its just a saying though because you swallowed it dodgey or sumat