Esophagus
January 22, 2012 | 10,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Ive Dr. Schaaf
Hello,
I know that I am a hypochondriac and because of that I have lost the realistic assessment of my body. I have a question for you:
Today at lunch, I accidentally ate a very sharp and hard French fry without chewing it well and it went down my esophagus, I felt it going down hard, but afterwards I did not have any pain, I don't think I do now either.
Could something have happened that it is severely injured, torn, bleeding or something else? Does the esophagus stretch wide?
If something had happened, would you feel it?
In my worst fears, there is now an injury and food is entering the bloodstream, causing blood poisoning.
The question is serious.
PS: Regarding my fears, I am in treatment.
Good evening,
usually nothing happens in this situation. Children swallow needles, elderly people with dementia swallow all sorts of things, and it usually turns out fine. The reason behind it is the following: the sharp object sticks into the wall on one side, which stretches instead of breaking, allowing the other side to move forward. Then the object continues to move down until the front tip sticks into the wall again and the back end moves forward.
Because it is a soft tube, nothing usually breaks. Perhaps the concept of needing much more force to puncture a limp/empty balloon compared to a fully inflated/tense one will help you understand. In the stomach, there is plenty of space and stomach acid, so the food is digested enough that nothing can happen during the rest of the digestion process.
The idea of food entering the bloodstream is not even up for discussion. At worst, the food would have leaked from the esophagus, irritating the surrounding area so much that you wouldn't overlook it. The fact that you are not in pain indicates with a high level of certainty that nothing has happened.
Is everything clear? If not, please ask.
Get well soon,
Dr. Schaaf
