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How to Swallow a Pill

How to Swallow a Pill

Friday, November 27, 2020

Swallowing a pill can sometimes be difficult or "hard to swallow," as the expression says. For some, it causes a gag reflex and may keep people from taking their medication consistently.

There are so many strategies online for how to swallow a pill, but none give the basics of the process, which happens very quickly.

Have a sense of urgency as you read the following steps. It all happens in less than three seconds. Keep your lips CLOSED during the entire process.

  1. Put the pill on top of your tongue in the middle and CLOSE your lips.
  2. Take a sip of water. Immediately raise the tongue tip up to the spot on the palate. Your pill is trapped between your tongue and palate.
  3. The middle and the back of your tongue go up to the palate like a "wave "and your pill is gone.
  4. If you allow your tongue to drop, or your lips to open, instead of following through with the "wave "action, you will not be able to swallow the pill.

If you think you have trouble with snoring, tongue thrust, or a lisp, consider the IJustWantTo Correct My Tongue Thrust program. The 7-week program takes less than 10 minutes a day with simple tongue exercises to cure snoring, fix a lisp, and more. Check it out here.

Janet M. Bennett

Written by:

Janet Bennett, M.Ed., CCC-SLP, is a Speech Pathologist in private practice in Asheville, NC, since 1977. She specializes in treating tongue thrust, a swallowing disorder that can result in buckteeth, an open bite, a lisp, snoring, and other problems that have not yet been made known to most people.

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