What are the ways to prevent choking? Understanding its causes and prevention

Choking is quite a common situation that we all come across in one form or another. So it becomes necessary to understand how to prevent choking in order to avoid its adverse effects. Choking could be life threatening as it blocks the airway making it difficult for an individual to breathe.

This could occur when the throat or airway is blocked due to the presence of some foreign object. Most of the time this situation is not much to worry about but there have been cases where choking could be life-threatening.

Thus, it is important to be aware of the possible ways to prevent choking. In this article, we will discuss the causes of choking and the ways to prevent it.

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What are the causes of choking?

What causes choking? (Image by 8photo on Freepik)

Choking can be caused due to various factors. For children, it may be due to swallowing various types of toys or other objects while for adults, it could be due to eating without swallowing the food properly or eating at a fast pace.

Choking could also be due to drinking water while lying down or laughing while you are swallowing your food. All these circumstances can lead to choking. While in most cases, you would be fine within a few minutes of coughing, this could become life-threatening in a few instances.

In order to prevent choking, one must be able to identify its signs. To identify if a person is choking, you will see the individual being unable to speak, cough, make noise and having difficulty in breathing.

Along with this, if the individual is seen crossing their hands alongside their throat and gasping for breath, this is a clear indication of choking.

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What are the ways to prevent choking?

What are the effective ways to prevent choking? (Image by wayhomestudio on Freepik)

Lifestyle changes and inculcating small habits can help to prevent choking.

To avoid choking, it is advised to consume food in bits and pieces. Breaking the food to be consumed into smaller pieces can help you eat effectively and prevent choking.

Further, one should avoid talking and laughing while chewing food as the majority of choking occurs due to this. Moreover, consuming food slowly and thoroughly will enable you to control your eating and prevent choking.

Incorporating these habits into your routine can make it easier for you to consume food as they not only help you to prevent choking but also contribute to effective digestion.

Kids are more prone to choking, so there are some measures that you should be careful about. Since small children tend to put every small thing into their mouths, it is better to keep things such as beads, coins, small toys and clips out of their reach.

During chewing one must not talk or laugh as it may cause choking (Image by Freepik on Freepik)

Further, do not feed them foods that are chewy as they might get stuck in their throats. Avoiding chewy foods or foods that can get easily stuck in their throats can prevent choking in children.

In addition to this, if someone is choking on food, the best possible solution at that point is to lean that person and give five regular pats on the back between the shoulder plates. This can create an artificial cough which can help in removal of the food from the windpipe.

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Choking can be a serious problem and proper preventive measures must be practiced in order to avoid the risks.