What is Aspiration?

Aspiration is a type of swallowing problem.

It happens when things such as food, drink, medication, spit, or vomit get into your lungs.

The only thing that should be in your lungs is air.

“Going Down the Wrong Pipe”

In the back of your mouth there are two openings.

One opening goes to the esophagus (the “food pipe”) – this leads to your stomach.

The other opening goes to the trachea (the “wind pipe”) – this leads to your lungs.

Aspiration is similar to choking, but different

Choking is when something is blocking your wind pipe so you cannot breath.

Aspiration is when anything except air goes down your wind pipe and into your lungs.

It is not always easy to know when aspiration has happened to someone.

People usually know right away if they are choking.

Aspiration can often go unnoticed until you become seriously ill.

Aspiration can happen to anybody…

But it happens more often to children, elderly people, and people with some types of disabilities.

These are people who may have more trouble than usual with swallowing.

Aspiration is more likely to happen to people with:

• Cerebral Palsy
• Epileptic seizures
• Stroke
• Multiple Sclerosis
• Parkinson’s Disease
• Poor motor skills
• Frequent vomiting
• Poor eating skills
• Impaired ability to move
• Long term use of feeding tubes
• A tracheostomy (tube through the neck into the windpipe to help with breathing)
• A history of choking or gagging on food

There are common signs and symptoms of aspiration.

• Coughing or gagging after meals
• Drooling or having food or fluid leak out of the nose
• Wheezing
• Gurgling sound from throat or lungs
• Breathing difficulty or noisy breathing
• Having food left over in the mouth after swallowing
• Feeling pain when swallowing
• Having to make unusual head movements of the head or neck when swallowing

Are you concerned that you, or somebody you care for, may be having trouble swallowing?

It is important that you talk to your doctor about the risks, and about what you can do to stay safe.

If care is not taken, aspiration can lead to malnutrition, weight loss, serious illness or even death.

There are things you can do to protect yourself from aspiration:

• Have trained staff assist with eating
• Eat more frequent, but smaller meals
• Slow pace of eating and decrease size of bites
• Eat while sitting up
• Avoid using beverages to wash food down
• Avoid use of straws
• Avoid lying down after meals
• Avoid food and drink before bedtime

Your doctor can give you more recommendations on what to do to stay safe and avoid aspiration.