1. NUTS- Peanuts are the leading cause of childhood choking. All nuts pose a threat because of their size and shape, and therefore should be avoided.
Choking Hazards
Hot dogs (especially cut into a coin shape), meats, sausages, and fish with bones. Popcorn, chips, pretzel nuggets, and snack foods. Candy (especially hard or sticky candy), cough drops, gum, lollipops, marshmallows, caramels, hard candies, and jelly beans.
Hot dogs pose the greatest risk, as they cause more choking deaths than any other food. “If you were to design the perfect plug for a child's airway, you couldn't do much better than a hot dog,” said Dr.
Strike five separate times between the person's shoulder blades with the heel of your hand. Give five abdominal thrusts. If back blows don't remove the stuck object, give five abdominal thrusts, also known as the Heimlich maneuver. Alternate between five blows and five thrusts until the blockage is dislodged.
Thick chewy bread, e.g. white bread, bagels, pizza, etc. Dry, crumbly foods such as cornbread or rice served without butter, jelly, sauce, etc.
Take small bites: Small bites or small sips of liquid may feel easier to swallow than larger portions. Chew food thoroughly: Chewing your food well makes it easier to swallow, which may help alleviate some of your anxiety. Eat soft foods: Soft foods may irritate your throat less than hard, scratchy foods will.
Do not try to dislodge the object by hitting the child on the back or squeezing the stomach – this may move the object into a more dangerous position and cause the child to stop breathing. Stay with the child and watch to see if their breathing improves.
Foods with a fibrous or 'stringy' texture - e.g. celery, green beans, melted cheese or pineapple. Fruit or vegetables with thick skins, seeds or pips - e.g. baked beans, peas, grapes and tomatoes. Crunchy and crumbly items such as toasts, biscuits, crackers, crisps, pie crusts.
The use of abdominal thrusts, or the Heimlich Maneuver, is suggested to dislodge objects and prevent suffocation. In the United States, the odds of one dying from choking on food is around 1 in 2,659.
Person features that increase choking risk relate to inadequate dentition, difficulty maintaining posture and positioning, fatigue during meals and impaired function as a result of medication and poor decision-making capacity. A loss of dentition affects healthy and frail elders.
Hot dogs and sausages
Kids tend to love these easy-to-cook items, but this popularity makes hot dogs and other sausages some of the most choked-on food around. Be sure to cut them into small, irregular shapes before serving. Some experts recommend cutting hot dogs length-wise to start.
Firstly, any food (bread, or other) that is not chewed enough can be too big for someone to swallow. It can then get lodged in the throat if it goes down the wrong pathway, leading to coughing and choking of the food as it blocks the airway.
Foods can also block off your airway. Food pieces that are especially large, slippery, particulate, dry or hard can pose problems for many people. Rice and corn are little culprits that you may not realize can be troublesome to swallow.
Try to cough as forcefully as possible, like you do when you're trying to hack up mucus when you're sick. Don't drink any water to try forcing the food down—that can actually make it worse, Dr. Bradley notes. Yes, it's the same action you'd use to help someone else choke, but you'd be doing it on yourself.
Encourage the person to continue coughing to resolve the partial blockage. Do not hit him on the back or try to give water. If the person cannot cough or speak, the windpipe is blocked and he is choking and needs emergency help.
It has been proposed that choking phobia occurs most commonly secondary to a conditioning experience of being choked by food. In the index case, swallowing food became conditioned with the fear of being choked after a choking incident leading to an avoidance or restriction of foods, panic attacks and weight loss.
Call for help: It is important to call for bystanders and for 911 if someone is choking. Drink water: If you feel like something is stuck in your throat, drinking water can help coax it to go down the esophagus.
Desensitization therapy is another proven and effective treatment for patients having the extreme fear of choking which leads to recurrent nightmares. This therapy is often used along with tongue depressors at the back of the throat to help patients overcome their anxiety about swallowing.
Unpasteurized milk and dairy products, fried foods, high-sodium foods, and certain raw produce are among the foods to avoid or limit at any age.
Signs of choking
Coughing or gagging. Panic and hand signals for help. Inability to speak, make noise or breathe. Turning blue around the lips, face and nails due to a lack of oxygen.