Several years ago at the Columbus Circle entrance to Central Park, I came upon someone having a seizure in the street. As I attempted to help the patient, someone from the crowd reached into the nearby garbage can and insisted that I stick the dirty spoon he had found into the person’s mouth to keep him from swallowing his tongue. The guy with the spoon didn’t seem to be impressed with my medical degree and “politely” told me that I didn’t know what the (insert vulgar NY expression here :__) I was talking about.
This is not an uncommon belief, but it is not possible to swallow your tongue. The tongue can block the opening of the airway and one of the first thing what you are taught in basic life support is that if someone is having difficulty breathing, you should tilt his or her head and lift the chin. This helps to remove the tongue as an obstruction. If you do com upon someone who is having a seizure, just make sure that he is safe and won’t hurt himself. Do not put a bacteria covered spoon in the mouth. Call for help and before you know it, the seizure will probably stop on its own.
By Billy Goldberg
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"Can you swallow your tongue?" was posted on Tuesday, October 9th, 2007 at 8:49 pm.
You can not swallow your tongue. If you become unconscious and are laying on your back, the muscles that control your tongue will relax and the tongue will fall back, blocking your airway. But you can not swallow your tongue.
Can you swallow your tongue when you have a seizure?