Cannot Swallow Medicine Pills: Here Are Some Tips To Help You

There are some people who encounter difficulty while swallowing pills. Are you one of them? Yes! Then, this article is for you. We are here to help you with some of the strategies, which will help you in swallowing your medicine pills. 

Strategies will not help you if you really do not want to overcome the issues or even if you are afraid. This might be another reason for sailing to swallow your pills. When we feel fear, we start to choke, and this makes the swelling task even tougher. 

Some Tips To Help You Swallow Medicine Pills

As we have mentioned, we will help you with some effective strategies for making your swallowing pill task a bit easier. We can provide you with strategies and tricks, but at the same time, you have to be determined about the thing. Now, let’s have a look at those strategies. 

Swallowing Gel

For swallowing a pill, you can opt for oral medication help or use a swallowing gel. Swallowing gel acts as a lubricant and ensures tablets or pills slide down your throat smoothly. When you are opting for a swallowing gel, ensure that you have had a discussion with your doctor.  

Swallowing gel will not damage the medicinal properties of your pills; it only just makes swallowing easier. 

Drink A Lot Of Water

Drinking water is what most doctors ask patients to consider. It is because a big part of swallowing depends on how moist the food is moist. Drink a lot of water before taking the pill in order to lubricate your throat. After that, take the pill with water.  

Then swallow the pill and make it go down to the stomach. With age, the production of saliva often goes down. So, it becomes more crucial for older people. 

Try The ‘Bottle’ Method

The bottle method is one of the two great techniques that German researchers have found to be really effective in helping people to swallow their tablets. Here is the method for you.  

  • Fill a plastic bottle which is a flexible one, with water. 
  • Now put the tablet on your tongue, and close both your lips very tightly around the opening of the bottle.
  • Use a sucking motion to take a drink from the bottle. This way, swallow the water along with the pill right away. 
  • As you swallow, do not let air get into the bottle. 

Try The ‘Lean Forward’ Method

The lean-forward method is one of the simplest methods. Perhaps the only method that we do subconsciously.  Here are the steps to follow. 

  • Put the capsule on your tongue. 
  • Now take a sip of water, but make sure you are not swallowing it. 
  • Tilt your chin very slightly towards your chest. 
  • With your head bent forward, swallow both the water and the capsule. 

Try With Different Head Postures

When we are talking about swallowing dynamics, we like to mention; head postures do have influences. Try swallowing pills with five different head positions. Here are the head positions. 

  • Tilted up or down. 
  • In the center.
  • Turn to the left or right.  

You also can try these positions, and after around 14 days, you will find your favorite position. 

Put Your Pill In Soft Food

You also can try taking your medicinal pills with soft food. You can try applesauce or chew a little food, then place the pill with it and try to swallow. Here you also have to be very careful about crushing, cutting, or chewing your medications. 

Some medicines are designed to dissolve slowly. In case you break the medicines, the outer layer gets damaged, which eventually can damage the dissolve timing. 

Final Tips

Follow these simple strategies to swallow your pills. Try all of them, and then find out which one works the best for you. Also, remember that the bottle method is only for tablets and the ‘lean forward’ method is only for capsules. Lubricating your throat is mandatory here, so do not forget to drink a lot of water.

Categories: Health

Nicolas Desjardins

Hello everyone, I am the main writer for SIND Canada. I've been writing articles for more than 12 years and I like sharing my knowledge. I'm currently writing for many websites and newspapers. I always keep myself very informed to give you the best information. All my years as a computer scientist made me become an incredible researcher. You can contact me on our forum or by email at [email protected].