It would seem that something terrible will happen from swallowing chewing gum? We all accidentally or deliberately swallowed it in childhood. However, not everything is so simple and unambiguous. If a child swallows gum, the parent subconsciously worries and fears the consequences. Is this situation harmless or, on the contrary, terrible?

Swallowed chewing gum can cause serious health problems for the child.

In childhood, adults scared us that if you swallow gum, it will not leave the body and stick to the walls of the stomach. Or it will be even worse - it will sink into the intestines and stick it together. Then there is no need for surgery. But this is a delusion.

What is included in modern chewing gum:

• sweeteners;
• flavors;
• wax;
• gum;
• taste stabilizers;
• dyes;
• emulsifiers.

One swallowed chewing gum will be digested in the stomach without harm to health.

In the bouquet of chemical components there is nothing useful for the child's body, but there is nothing particularly toxic either. If a child swallows gum, it will be easily digested in the stomach under the influence of digestive enzymes and juices. It will take 6 to 10 hours to process chewing gum. In extreme cases, she will come out after a day, naturally. The gum cannot glue or damage anything along the way.

The child swallowed some chewing gum

If you swallow one chewing gum, there will be no health consequences. But it happens that the baby eats a whole package, and then complains of feeling unwell. Among the possible consequences of swallowing gum are:

• food poisoning;
• food allergies;
• diarrhea/constipation.

When a baby swallows a large amount of chewing gum, parents need to sound the alarm and seek help from a doctor.

A few swallowed chewing gums can harm a child's body.

Food poisoning

For chewing gum to cause poisoning, it must be swallowed in large quantities. The components of modern chewing gums very rarely cause severe intoxication of the body. However, parents cannot know for sure what is included in the composition of the gum, how good it is, and what will happen to the baby. The child's body can react to a foreign substance in different ways.

If a child is suspected of being poisoned, give him 250-500 ml of water and induce a gag reflex.

Thus, the stomach is freed from toxins. If vomiting cannot be induced, and the baby's condition causes concern, you should immediately go to the hospital.

Allergic reaction

The components of chewing gums very often provoke allergies in children. At risk are children prone to allergic reactions. You need to find out how much the child swallowed this product. If a large amount of chewing gum enters the body, there may be a threat not only to health, but also to the life of the baby.

If a child has an allergy (urticaria, itching, swelling), he immediately needs an antihistamine. If after that the baby feels normal, you should not worry.

If the baby began to cough, choke, turned pale - you can’t hesitate, you need to urgently call an ambulance.

If an allergic reaction occurs, the child should be given an antihistamine and consult a doctor.

Diarrhea or constipation

After swallowing a large amount of chewing gum, such consequences are to be expected. Large and dense pieces of gum disrupt the bowels, and this causes prolonged constipation. AT different countries there have been cases when children had to undergo surgery due to intestinal obstruction.

Diarrhea is also a common symptom of gum poisoning. Some of its components act on the intestines as a laxative, so they can provoke diarrhea, bloating and abdominal pain.

If a child has diarrhea after chewing gum, fixing drugs should not be given to him. The gum should leave the body faster. When the condition of the baby does not improve, a visit to the doctor is required.

Constipation or diarrhea caused by swallowed gum requires immediate medical attention.

Actions of parents

What to do if a child swallows gum? You need to calm down and not panic. Find out how many pastilles the baby ate - one, two or more. A pair of rubber bands is not dangerous, the baby will not feel any discomfort. They will be excreted in the feces and will not harm the body.

Eaten a whole pack or more? Then the state and behavior of the child need control. If there were no symptoms during the day, the gum was digested. In case of severe pain in the abdomen, stool disorders, rashes, difficulty breathing, you cannot do without an examination by a specialist.

Summary

Even ordinary chewing gum can cause disastrous consequences. In addition to swallowing the product, the baby may accidentally inhale it into the respiratory tract, resulting in suffocation. Do not leave children alone with dangerous objects and do not give chewing gum before 6 years.

In one of the previous articles, we already talked about that, and the answer was disappointing. Today we will try to answer the question of what will happen if you swallow gum and what to do in this situation. In the process of addressing this issue, we will also debunk several common myths about chewing gum.

Let's try to figure out what happens if you swallow gum. It is impossible to give an unambiguous answer to this question, because anything from the following list can happen:

• Food poisoning.
• Allergy attack.
• Diarrhea.
• Constipation.
• Nothing will happen.

In order not to violate the order of the points, we will first discuss what can happen if you swallow gum, starting with the first item on our list.

How does chewing gum cause food poisoning?

Food poisoning occurs when poor quality chewing gum, which consists of toxic and poisonous ingredients, is swallowed. Unfortunately, such chewing gum exists to this day, and all over the world. The point here is not even in clandestine industries that make fakes, because even completely legal enterprises for the production of chewing gum supply chewing gum with toxic substances to the shelves.

Unfortunately, it is very difficult for non-specialists to point out bad gums, so you should not swallow gums of unknown brands.

What should I do if I swallowed chewing gum of unknown content? First you need to induce vomiting and see if you can get rid of low-quality chewing gum in this way. If it worked out, you need to observe the reaction of the body and decide according to the circumstances, if it doesn’t help, go to the hospital, let them decide how to help.

Cases where swallowing chewing gum leads to an allergy attack

In some cases, an allergy can also appear from one chewing gum, but it is much more likely that the body will respond inadequately to a large number of chewing gums swallowed. Do not think that this will not happen, because children and adults often do not understand the dangers of chewing gum. Often it is swallowed on a dare or simply by negligence.

What to do if you swallow gum with an allergen? If, after a child or adult has swallowed gum, they begin to show signs of an allergy, you should take an antiallergic drug and try to remove the gum by vomiting. Also find out how many chewing gums have been swallowed to know if there is still something left in the body.

If you managed to get rid of the chewing gum yourself, then make sure that the victim does not subsequently develop an allergy. If the gum didn’t come out or there was a lot of it, you should go to the hospital, because it is likely that you can’t do without professional help.

Diarrhea attack

To earn yourself diarrhea, you need to chew several packs of chewing gum per day. If you swallow gum, you need much less.

Since this fact raises doubts among many people, because they once swallowed more than a dozen chewing gums (often at different times), we will cite data from the famous English medical publication "The Lancet".

“Each chewing gum always contains some kind of sweetener (xylitol, sorbitol, maltitol or lures), which is also a laxative. That is why the ingestion of a large amount of any of them into the human body triggers diarrhea, in rare cases - abdominal pain or flatulence. It should be noted that there are other symptoms.

In the same publication, a slightly different case was described when the boy chewed about ten packs of gum a day, after which his heart rate doubled - up to 147 beats per minute, trips to the toilet became more frequent and excessive aggression appeared. All of this was due to the small dose of caffeine in each gum pad.

Probably, when swallowing, such serious consequences can also be achieved, because if a child swallows a few chewing gums, his level of excitement will jump noticeably, his heart rate will accelerate, and then according to the well-known scenario.

In the event that swallowed chewing gum has caused diarrhea, you should get rid of chewing gum and drink plenty of fluids (compote, water).

Constipation

How long does chewing gum take to digest? If a small portion is swallowed, then the process of its digestion will take from six to ten hours or a little more. What happens if you swallow gum the size of a tennis ball?

Are you saying this doesn't happen? If you believe the publication in the journal "Pediatrix", this happens. By the way, it is not necessary to swallow the whole lump at once, you can gradually - plate after plate. Apparently, two four-year-old children did just that, from the rectum of which, after prolonged constipation, large lumps of chewing gum were extracted. So, it is better to be on the alert, and immediately consult a doctor, even if you suspect.

Nothing will happen

In the most common case, after swallowing the gum, no abnormalities will be noticed. This option is possible if only one gum without harmful components is swallowed. It will come out easily after a while.

Still, you should not swallow gum, because there are too many not fully studied components that can bring negative consequences, albeit invisible.

Chewing gums are harmful, they should not be used often. Every parent tells their child about it. And often censures turn out to be useless, because children in one way or another strive to demonstrate adulthood and omniscience. Things take a different turn if the child has swallowed the gum. In this case, parents have equal cause for calm and concern. How to behave, and how it can turn out, let's try to figure it out.

What kind of children can gum?

It often happens that young mothers and fathers, trying to give the child everything that is around, with early age give him gum. Naturally, the child cannot understand the new product and easily uses it in the wrong way. If you don’t know, you can give this “fascinating little thing” to your child, open his documents, look at the date of birth and draw the appropriate conclusions.

About poisoning

In principle, swallowed gum is unlikely to adversely affect the baby. It usually comes out the next day with feces, so there is nothing to be upset about. Another thing is if, after ingestion, signs appear that are not similar to the normal state. The main thing is not to delay. Contact a doctor who will help the child.

Allergy to the chemical composition

The fact that chewing gum is a chemical product that consists of many additives is known to every adult. The question naturally arises - if they know why they give to children. There are many ways to freshen your breath - toothpaste, special napkins. There are many alternatives, but let's not miss the main thing - if you have already been given an elastic band, do everything so that it does not cause harm.

1. Pillows, which are designed for fresh breath, contain many times more harmful components than the usual children's Bubblegum. Therefore, you should not tempt fate, trying to please the child - the pads can easily cause a rash and other negative consequences;
2. The most dangerous thing is if the product contains a substance that is not tolerated by the body. In this case, there is a great danger in the form of anaphylactic shock.

If possible, do not feed the child with chemical products. Much better if you offer him fruit. If you can’t get away from issuing chewing gum, then watch the child - how he behaves, how his condition is. Often, after consuming and swallowing a large amount of gum, in addition to allergies, even more unpleasant consequences occur that cannot be discounted.

Digestive disorders

This is the most obvious effect if a child has swallowed gum. It manifests itself in different ways, because a negative result from the side digestive system happens in several forms. In order to correctly correlate causes and effects, let's pay attention to how this happens.

food bolus

This is one of the most terrible consequences, since in this case one cannot do without surgical intervention. This trouble often bypasses children, who are forbidden by their parents to swallow seed husks, their own hair and other obscene things in the stomach. In a more serious scenario, when the baby, together with these false products, adds an elastic band, the matter becomes even more complicated.

• A food bolus is formed in the stomach. It will not resolve on its own, therefore, the sooner you go to the hospital, the more chances for a successful outcome;
• If you describe this briefly, then the situation resembles the symptoms associated with intestinal obstruction. Vomiting begins, strongly, by these signs it is easy to determine the scale of the problem - the more it vomits, the more dangerous the situation;
• When the doctors find out the cause of what is happening, they will immediately decide on surgical intervention. In other words, with the help of a scalpel, a food bolus will be pulled out. A test for a child cannot be called pleasant, but a timely appeal to a specialist will save a life and alleviate suffering.

In principle, it is difficult to call chewing gum swallowing dangerous. As a rule, the product passes with feces the next day. As for digestion, there are two options - partially digested or left untouched. It depends on the composition of the pillow. In any case, watch the baby and make sure everything is fine. If something is worrying, do not take risks, seek help.

Video about the dangers of chewing gum for babies

In this video you will learn what happens if you swallow gum:

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Our magazine has already talked about how “useful” chewing gum is for pregnant women. Now we will try to find the answer to the question of what will happen if you swallow the gum. And what exactly to do in this situation. Well, in the process of considering this problem, we willy-nilly debunk a couple of myths about swallowed chewing gum ...

So what happens if you swallow gum?

It will not be possible to find an unequivocal answer, because one of four options can “happen”:

• nothing will happen;
• diarrhea or constipation;
• allergy attack;
• food poisoning.

The desired option is known to everyone, so we will postpone the conditions for its occurrence for “dessert” (if you want, you can consider this a whim of the author). Well, in order not to violate the order of the points, let's discuss what can happen if you swallow gum, starting from the end of the list of consequences.

By the way, it should be said right away that the effect does not depend on whether the child swallowed the gum or an adult, except that the child's reaction may be a little stronger, because the body is small ...

When chewing gum leads to food poisoning

Food poisoning is possible only if you swallow poor-quality chewing gum, consisting of poisonous and toxic ingredients. Unfortunately, such chewing gum still exists, and all over the world. And it's not even about underground factories producing fakes. Even completely legal chewing gum manufacturers supply chewing gum with toxic substances to stores, the harmfulness of which has not yet been “proven”.

Alas, it’s quite difficult for non-specialists to “poke” a finger into bad chewing gum, so just don’t swallow chewing gum of unknown brands.

What to do if you swallowed chewing gum with poison?

The first step is to induce vomiting (if you still don't have any) and see if you can get rid of the toxic gum that way. If it worked out, observe the reaction of the “patient's” body and decide according to the circumstances, if not, go to the hospital. Let them decide how to help the victim.

When swallowing gum causes an allergy attack

Sometimes an allergy is manifested from one chewing gum, but it is much more likely that the body will react inadequately with a large number of swallowed chewing gums. Do not think that this does not happen, because often children and adults do not understand the dangers of chewing gum. They swallow on a dare, out of curiosity, through negligence - in general, it happens.

What to do if you swallow gum with an allergen?

If after an adult or child has swallowed the gum, they show signs of an allergy, first take an antiallergic drug and try to "extract" the gum with vomiting. In parallel, find out how much destructive rubber was swallowed in order to understand if there is something else left in the body.

It will be possible to “drive out” the chewing gum on your own - watch the “swallower” with a vial (or whatever you have) of an antiallergic drug. If the chewing gum does not come out or there was a lot of it, go to the hospital, as it is quite possible that it will be difficult to do without professional doctors in this case.

Diarrhea

To get diarrhea, you have to chew several packs of chewing gum a day. If you swallow gum, you will need much less.

Since this fact raises doubts among many people who at one time swallowed more than a dozen chewing gums (usually at different times), let me quote the data from the English medical journal The Lancet (the entire next paragraph).

Each chewing gum contains some kind of sweetener (sorbitol, xylitol, mannitol or maltitol), which is also a laxative. Therefore, ingestion of a large dose of one of them promises you diarrhea, and sometimes flatulence or abdominal pain. It should be noted that other symptoms are also possible.

The same publication describes a slightly different case when the boy chewed about ten packs of gum a day, after which his heart accelerated twice - up to 147 beats per minute, trips to the toilet "for little need" became more frequent and excessive aggression appeared. And all this because of the tiny dose of caffeine in each piece of chewing gum, which simply “summed up”.

Perhaps, when swallowing, it is also possible to achieve such serious “results”, because if a child swallows several of these chewing gums, his level of excitation can noticeably jump, his heart speeds up, well, and further according to the scenario.

So, if swallowed chewing gum caused diarrhea - get rid of chewing gum and drink plenty of fluids (water, compote).

Constipation

How much chewing gum is digested? If only one serving is swallowed, then the digestion process will take some 6-10 hours, maybe a little more. But what happens if you swallow gum the size of a small cupcake?

You say it doesn't happen? Hmm ... If you believe the publication in the American magazine "Pediatrix", then this happens. By the way, it is not necessary to swallow the whole lump at once, because you can gradually - plate after plate ... Apparently, this was done by two 4-year-old children of different sexes, from whose rectum, after prolonged constipation, weighty lumps of chewing gum were extracted.

Better be on the lookout. And if that - immediately to the doctor.

Nothing will happen if...

Well, in the most common case, when swallowing gum, you will not notice any deviations from the norm. This option “threatens” you when only one gum is swallowed without obviously harmful components. It will just come out after a while (remember how much gum is digested).

But swallowing gum is still not worth it, since there are too many unexplored and “unproven” components, due to which there will still be a negative effect, albeit invisible.

You can accidentally swallow only very tasty chewing gum! Or abruptly changed circumstances accompanied the swallowing of chewing gum ... Do not worry, this is fixable if you have not yet choked, which is extremely undesirable for life.

If you swallow chewing gum with food, you risk choking. The gum will most likely get stuck in the larynx. It is necessary to drink a large amount of liquid in order to "push" it out of there.

A large swallowed lump of chewing gum will either hide in the intestinal fold or completely clog the intestinal lumen.

If you swallow caffeinated gum, then after a while you will have heart problems, as the heartbeat will increase several times.

Intestinal volvulus from swallowing chewing gum threatens only those people who managed to swallow several packs in one day.

What can happen if you swallow orbit gum?

After swallowing Orbit mint gum, you will experience an exacerbation of gastritis or the appearance of this disease. The menthol, which is present in the composition of this chewing gum, is to blame for everything.

It is possible that you are tormented by flatulence. Save yourself from it folk remedies or a special diet.

If you swallowed nicorette gum

Nicorette is a chewing gum that relieves people of tobacco addiction and helps to minimize cravings for cigarettes.

Ingestion of this chewing gum can lead to food poisoning. Before you see a doctor, take five tablets of activated charcoal and lie down for a while. If you feel seriously unwell, seek help from qualified professionals.

Some people claim to have permanently lost their appetite when they swallowed chewing gum. They note that they were constantly thirsty. They could not quench their thirst even with three liters of water!

What can happen if pregnant women swallow gum?

To begin with, answer yourself the question of whether you need chewing gum in your mouth when a child lives in your tummy. What is the connection? Study the composition of chewing gum and make a decision.

Here's what's in gum:

1. Titanium White. This dye was previously banned in Russia, as it causes kidney and liver diseases. Now this ban has been lifted.
2. Flavorings. Those that are obtained chemically (synthetically) are especially unsafe.
3. Latex. The chewing gum base reads completely harmless. However, it should be borne in mind that not all studies have been carried out by scientists.

Sweeteners found in chewing gums:

1. Acesulfame-K. For example, in laboratory animals, it causes the development of tumors.
2. Xylitol, sorbitol. A person chewing more than one pack per day gets a laxative effect from chewing gum.
3. Aspartame. Causes such side effects: nausea, headache, acid imbalance in the body, dizziness, slight weakness.

If you still swallowed gum, then do not be surprised if an allergic attack overtakes you. Contact your doctor. He will prescribe an anti-allergic drug for you.

Some mothers who accidentally swallowed chewing gum suffered from constipation for a long time, as it takes eight hours to digest.

If you swallow the gum love is, then the following will happen

You will suffer from bouts of diarrhea. Take a few pills for this ailment. Do not be surprised if they do not help you: the actions of drugs can be temporarily “blocked”.

Love is chewing gum contains a large amount of sugar. He, in combination with other components, will bring your body to a peptic ulcer. This will happen if you accidentally swallow gum on an empty stomach.

Small pimples will suddenly appear on the face. You can get rid of them with the help of special lotions or regular baby creams. They may itch a lot, but this itching must be endured so that the rash does not spread all over the face.