It’s Ok to Brush - Just Don’t Inhale
1,100 ViewsAnd you can quote me: "Swallowing toothpaste is one thing. Inhaling it is another, and let me tell you that when that searing hot mint hits your delicate pulmonary tract, you experience a full minute and a half of "oh please God let me die NOW" intense pain with every attempt at breathing."
Posted in My Day, July 27th, 2006
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Who would ever have thought that a seemingly innocent thing like mint toothpaste could incapacitate someone with what can only be described as a “phasers on stun” response to being accidentally inhaled?
Well, let me tell you, don’t try this at home, kids.
When you think about the act of toothbrushing, and how often you do it (uh, hopefully), the fact that you probably don’t hold your breath when you brush your teeth (although you should if you don’t brush your teeth - at least if you are standing near me), and the proximity of all that toothpastey backwash to your epiglottis, well, it’s amazing that this doesn’t happen more often. Certainly it’s the first time that it has happened in my forty-mumbledy-some-odd years.
But there it was. I was brushing my teeth, with Crest cool-as-ice-ultra-minty gel, and somehow, a tiny bit ended up going down the wrong way.
And let me tell you - when that searing hot mint hits your delicate pulmonary tract, you experience a full minute and a half of “oh please God let me die NOW” intense pain with every attempt at breathing, every futile cough which only serves to re-sear the entire length of your trachea as you desparately claw at your throat and chest and wonder if you will ever live to see another episode of Knotts Landing.
Then for the next five minutes the coughing hurts somewhat less (only somewhat), and you have the bizarre sensation of having minty fresh breath that is minty fresh all the way from the bottom of your lungs on up.
An altogether unpleasant experience, and I think I’m switching to Tom’s of Maine orange/mango toothpaste from here on out.
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Last night I inhaled a dollop of arm & hammer toothpaste and had a near death experience.I’m in a duo & w/3 gigs this weekend my larynx is lammenting. Googled the experience & found you. God, you’re cute!
Bill
Comment by bill duryea — August 20, 2008 @ 11:36 am
This 46 year old did the same thing this morning! My lungs still hurt and it’s almost 4pm. Been hacking all day. NOT fun!
Comment by Shelley — December 18, 2009 @ 1:52 pm
Just did the same except mine was aquafresh whiting with “micro active foaming action”. The first 5 minutes I thought I was going to die… Felt like I needed to puke but different…. Throat is now extremely irritated and no matter how many glasses of I drink, this burning sensation is not going away.
Comment by Keith — January 16, 2010 @ 1:46 am
I think I both swallowed and inhaled; I’m only experiencing minor examples of the symptoms you all described. I did vomit fairly soon afterwards, but unfortunately that hasn’t helped…
Comment by Charlie — January 25, 2010 @ 6:06 pm
I have managed to do this twice and both times I too felt like death would be a far better option. Both times I spat up blood, had the horrible minty feeling in my chest, sore throat, mucus and vomiting. I learned from the first time NOT to drink water… For some reason it creates a very frothy and bubbly foam that makes it worse. Constantly clearing your throat is not going to help… You just need to feel the pain and know stupidity caused this
Comment by Jenn — January 27, 2010 @ 8:39 am
Glad to see I’m not the only one. Talk about a cruel way to kill someone: I couldn’t breath at all for a span of seconds, which seemed a life time. Then I started coughing and vomiting and couldn’t stop. Now I’m sitting here with my throat on fire and glad to know I’ll live to see another day and perhaps this too shall pass …
Comment by Shannon — November 9, 2010 @ 12:44 pm
AHH, i just did this and it feels like i have a beach worth of sand stuck at the back of my throat every time i swallow, cough or even breath. i have vomitted alot and im freaking hoping this horrible feeling is gone by the morning. Im such an idiot, all i did was breathe while brushing my teeth.
Comment by Erin — December 29, 2010 @ 5:46 pm
Just, just did this. I feel as though I just voluntarily drank concentrated acid. My throat HATES me. Very glad I’m not the first/I’m not going to die like I was thinking there in the first few minutes of choking.
Comment by sarah — March 4, 2011 @ 10:04 pm
I just inhaled some as well- the isoactive whitening foaming formula. SO PAINFUL!!!
I tried to rinse with cold then hot water, and both hurt although hot less (cold makes mint activate in sensation). You can’t really rinse out your wind pipe >_
Comment by Kate — March 14, 2011 @ 3:58 am
Just did this and almost went to wake up my roomate before i could catch my first small grasp if air.
I actually inhaled a piece and felt very little until i went to cough it up which spread it everywhere. Pain+inabiluty to breath=terrible exprience
Comment by Maxwell — March 18, 2011 @ 10:52 pm
So I switched to the “Powdered” toothpaste that comes in the little blue bottle. LOVE THAT STUFF in my mouth. HATE IT in my lungs! You kind of have to squeeze little puffs of it out and onto the toothbrush. (It used to come out easier until my kids got ahold of it). Anyway, so you always get this puff when dispensing. Over the course of this week I have managed to inhale two or three of these puffs. For the past 2 days my lungs hurt. They only really hurt when I take a deep breath. With regular breathing I don’t really notice it but if I inhale ALL the way… ouch!
I recently took up biking so I’m working out more. I’m wondering if my sore lungs are from the toothpaste puffs . . . or from working out.
Do lungs even get sore from working out?
Comment by Teresa — June 24, 2011 @ 2:36 pm
Hello, my name is Peggy, and I am a toothpaste inhaler. In 43 years of brushing this has never happened to me, and all of a sudden this morning I get to experience the searing pain, coughing spasms, tears (with mascara), gagging, and vomit, all in a matter of minutes. I have been coughing all day.
Comment by Peggy — August 5, 2011 @ 7:22 am
I inhaled toothpaste foam on Saturday morning before a very physical athletic event. I thought I was coughing blood after my race was over, but nothing red came out. Now it’s Monday and it still hurts to breath deep. Rode my bike 10 minutes to get to work and coughed for the first hour of my shift. I think sterenuous exercise may worsten the condition… word to the wise.
Comment by Dave — September 12, 2011 @ 7:19 am