Buzz
Swallowing pills can be challenging: up to 40% of U.S. adults and many children experience difficulty. Specialized cups and methods can assist, tricking you into swallowing the pill along with your drink.
One option is the Oralflo, a cup resembling a sippy cup. Simply fill it with any beverage, place the pill in the spout holder, take a sip, and the pill travels along with the liquid. If you prefer not to carry a special cup, try the Easy Flow Pill Swallowing Aid, a pill holder that attaches to the top of a bottle.
What if you don’t have any special tools? Here are a few alternative techniques that could help:
Tilting your head forward: Effective for capsules because they float. Tilt your head forward (chin down) before swallowing, and the capsule moves to the back of your mouth.
The 'toilet bowl' technique, a classic method named by a Mytour commenter: fill your mouth with water, drop the pill in, and swallow. This works best for pills that sink.
The pop-bottle method: Place the pill on your tongue, seal your lips around a bottle, and suck in a large gulp of the drink.
Lube it up with butter: Just as it sounds.
According to the New York Times, the issue is often psychological: we are simply not accustomed to swallowing solid objects without chewing them. Pediatrician Tanya Altman recommends a helpful method to train yourself: roll a piece of bread into a pill shape. Since it's soft, the usual fear of swallowing a pill doesn’t apply. From there, you can gradually increase the size of the bread pieces or start using small pieces of candy.
Photo by Carsten Schertzer.
