Asians, we are real hardcore about eating fish. Fish fillets are fine, but no fun. Give it to us whole, complete with heads and tails for an extra challenge. However, eating fish this way comes with a risk: having a fishbone stuck to your throat.
And what do you usually do my patients do first instead of consulting an ENT doctor (Palawan)? Here are some of them:
-Eat large pieces of banana or large spoonfuls of rice and shove it down their throat
The desperate ones for whom the above do not work, they even try to get a gentle neck scratch by a cat, or massaged by someone delivered in breech position (suhi in Filipino)
All these “techniques” may sound strange, but all of these are myths or urban legend passed down generation after generation, maybe from the ancestors, back when people had no access to doctors in the far flung areas.
As an ENT doctor (Palawan) however, I would advise you against doing such things and go immediately to consult with your nearest ENT or emergency room.
Why Shouldn't You Just Jam up your Throat with Food?
When you eat boluses or large chunks of food, 2 things may happen: 1) it will push the fishbone deeper into the throat tissues and will result in a deeply imbedded bone (that ends up being really difficult to remove) and 2) sometimes, swallowing large amounts of food could break the fishbone so that only a very small portion is jutting out so your ENT doctor will have difficulty visualizing it during your ENT consult.
When you come in for a fishbone ingestion, one of the first things we do is to inspect your oral cavity. Most of the time, just by using a strong headlight and a tongue depressor, we are able to visualize the fishbone stuck in the tonsils. If the patient’s gag reflex is strong, expect that your ENT doctor (Palawan)may instill an anesthesia spray into your mouth before attempting to remove the—this spray sometimes tastes a little bitter.
What Will Your ENT Doctor Do?
If we are unable to visualize the fishbone in the clinic, your ENT doctor (Palawan) may do a procedure called a laryngoscopy, using a flexible endoscope to check if the fishbone has lodged at the back of your tongue, or in the throat or hypopharynx. We may remove the fishbone by adding more anesthesia spray to your throat. However, if your gag reflex strong, we might call anesthesia for mild sedation.
A common question that I get asked by patients is: Won’t the body absorb the fishbone? The answer: not really. Instead, it will regard it as a foreign body – tell guard cells to go there and fight it, which may result in infection and swelling, or even pus resulting in a neck abscess.
Moral Lesson When You Swallow A Fishbone
So, the moral lesson when you accidentally ingest a fishbone is: DON’T DELAY- this only makes it more difficult for you and for your ENT as each swallowing makes it go deeper, and potentially more painful. Worse, it may be focus of infection and eventual abscess formation.
Consult immediately with your ENT doctor (Palawan), so he or she can rule out the fishbone by visualizing that it’s not there. If no fishbone is visualized, the pain might just be due to ulcers or micro wounds created by your swallowing large chunks of food, and your ENT doctor can start proper medical treatment right away.
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