Eating a steaming hot pot, many people like to pair it with a cold drink, feeling spicy and cooling. This "one fire and one ice" eating method can bring life danger.
Recently, a news that "the girl's throat hurt only 10 minutes from the doctor to her death" caused heated discussions among netizens, and the culprit of the death was the attack of "acute epiglottitis" that caused suffocation. It is understood that the girl had eaten at a hot pot restaurant before her death.
Experts interviewed
Huang Donghai, Chief Physician of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Xiangya Hospital, Central South University
Wang Qi, chief physician of the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery, Beijing Tongren Hospital
How dangerous is acute epiglottitis
According to media reports, a 26-year-old girl rushed to a hot pot restaurant to celebrate her friend's birthday after working overtime at night. After returning home from dinner, I felt a little sore throat. Early the next morning, she noticed that her throat pain worsened, and she even had difficulty breathing, so she took some anti-inflammatory drugs at home and went to work.
Unexpectedly, the situation became more serious, and there was a feeling of holding your breath and chills. After rushing to the hospital, the girl suddenly exhaled heavily, fell to the ground, suffered cardiac arrest, and stopped breathing.
The doctor combined various previous symptoms and found that her epiglottis was congested and swollen and blocked the glottis during the examination, and judged that the killer "murderer" was acute epiglottitis.
When people breathe and eat, air enters the trachea from the nose through the throat, and food enters the esophagus from the mouth through the throat. The epiglottis grows above the entrance to the respiratory tract, like a small switch, which closes the entrance of the laryngotrachea downward when the person eats and swallows, and opens upward when breathing, ensuring that the airflow enters the trachea smoothly.
Many people have experienced choking while eating and talking, which is caused by the epiglottis not closing in time.
The epiglottis tissue structure is relatively loose and prone to swelling under inflammatory stimuli.
If it is invaded by bacteria and viruses, it may cause more dangerous acute epiglottitis, resulting in obstruction of the respiratory inlet, the patient will show difficulty breathing, and in severe cases, the entrance to the laryngeal trachea will be completely blocked, causing suffocation.
Which symptoms alert to epiglottis edema
Acute epiglottitis is an acute inflammatory lesion of the epiglottis mainly involving the supraglottic region of the larynx and its surrounding tissues, and is mainly characterized by high edema of the epiglottis, hyperemia, irritating spicy diet, cold weather, rapid alternation of hot and cold throat, bacterial infection, etc.
In terms of symptoms, in addition to severe sore throat and difficulty swallowing, patients can cause dyspnea and even suffocation in severe cases.
How to distinguish epiglottis edema from ordinary sore throat?
Sore throats from colds generally do not interfere with breathing and cause symptoms of airway obstruction. In addition to severe sore throat, patients with acute epiglottitis are accompanied by a foreign body sensation and obstruction sensation in the larynx in the early stage, and strenuous breathing and dysphagia in the later stage, which can cause dyspnea or even suffocation in severe cases.
Moreover, acute epiglottitis occurs and develops rapidly, and inspiratory laryngeal sounds (that is, abnormal breath sounds during inspiration) occur within 24 hours of onset.
If there is acute persistent throat swelling and pain, accompanied by swallowing disorders, medical attention should be sought in time.
At present, there is no other self-help method for acute epiglottitis, if the above symptoms occur, you should seek medical attention immediately, the sooner the better, and go to the hospital in time to investigate the cause. Because acute epiglottitis is dangerous, treatment is a race against the clock. If airway obstruction occurs, treatments such as tracheostomy are required to open the airway.
How to protect a fragile throat
Although the throat is small, it is related to breathing, eating, vocalization and other important physiological functions, and in summer, people prefer to drink cold drinks and eat irritating foods, and the throat will also suffer.
No.1
Stay away from factors that hurt your throat
Quitting smoking and alcohol, throat cancer is associated with smoking and drinking. Studies have found that drinking even 25 grams of alcohol (about 1 tael of liquor) per day is associated with a 43% increased risk of throat cancer.
Do not eat too hot, too hot diet will hurt the pharynx, repeated mucosal damage, may lead to cancer. It is best to avoid drinking too hot tea, raw porridge, etc.
Oral hygiene should be carried out. If you do not brush your teeth before going to bed, oral bacteria can breed, which may trigger throat inflammation.
The air should be fresh, keep the indoor air circulation of the working and living environment, and minimize contact with kitchen fumes. Do not open your mouth to breathe, give full play to the filtering effect of the nasal mucosa.
Don't overdo it, don't talk for a long time or shout at the top of your voice. Teachers and other groups should not speak too loudly or too low, do not suddenly speak loudly, so that the volume has a change in priority.
No.2
Do more of what your throat loves
Eating some throat moisturizer foods and eating pears can help relieve sore throats, coughs and phlegm, etc. Silver fungus is rich in gum that keeps the throat moist. You can also boil water and drink with monk fruit, pear, chuanbei, tangerine peel, lily, and chrysanthemum.
Fumigating the mouth with hot water, pouring a cup of warm water, and fumigating the mouth with hot steam can relieve throat discomfort. The water temperature should not exceed 60 °C. Drink warm water before and after using your throat to keep your throat moist.
Massage with a warm compress, you can use a warm towel on the neck for a while to promote blood circulation. You can also massage your throat and gently press your index finger and thumb against the front of your neck and gently rotate and knead.
Strengthen physical exercise, improve the body's immunity, expand lung capacity, and enhance the activity of vocal organs.
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There is already inflammation of the throat, it is recommended to reduce the stimulation of a spicy diet so as not to exacerbate the condition.
If there is a foreign body sensation in the pharynx, itching in the pharynx, cough, hoarseness, choking, poor swallowing, and obstructive foreign body sensation when swallowing, it is necessary to seek medical attention in time to find out the cause. ▲
Editor of this issue: Wang Xiaoqing