Whether you have a flowing head of hair or a short and simple hairstyle, you’ve run into this issue at some point. It’s one of those pesky situations that simply happens to us every now and then.
There’s a sudden tickling sensation in your throat, and it can be very uncomfortable to deal with. Naturally, you want to make this feeling go away quickly. This is especially true for those situations where you have to be subtle – like a business meeting, a restaurant etc.
How to get a hair out of your throat in these situations? You might instinctively go for a glass of water or wine, but somehow it doesn’t end up helping.
So, what do you do?
Tips On How To Get A Hair Out Of Your Throat
Here we’ll be taking a look at a few very simple and effective ways of solving these unpleasant issues.
A few common ways of getting a hair out of your throat are:
- Swallowing it
- Forcing it down with food
- Pulling it out with your fingers
If none of these options work and the problem persists, consider visiting a doctor.
Dry Swallowing And Dislodging The Hair
The first and probably the most obvious solution when thinking about how to get a hair out of your throat might be to just try and swallow it. In most cases this simple solution will work quite well.
Just ‘dry swallowing’ should do the trick here, as the movements of your throat will dislodge the hair from its stuck position and guide it to your digestive system.
In these cases, it’s good to try and relax your throat muscles. You don’t want to irritate your throat any further or force anything. You can try opening your mouth wide and moving your jaw up and down, similar to yawning. This should help relieve some tension in the throat.
Is Hair Safe To Swallow?
The short answer – yes, it’s safe.
Hair isn’t harmful to our bodies and nothing happens when we accidentally ingest a few strands. Our bodies can’t digest it or use it in any way, since our digestive systems aren’t strong enough to break it down – much like cellulose – so it will just pass through your system with no consequences.
However, there are a few possible reasons for concern, in case you have any allergic reactions to certain chemicals.
The first reason we’re going to mention is that it’s technically possible for the hair to cause some damage to the throat. This is of course very rare and – generally – you shouldn’t worry about it, but it’s possible.
The other possible reason for concern are the bacteria from unwashed hair or chemicals from shampoos, hair sprays and other hair products. These chemicals might cause irritation when in contact with the sensitive skin.
Eating Food
Another solution to getting hair out of your throat is eating soft foods. The idea is to have the food pick up the hair and carry it down the hatch.
The simplest and widely available solution for this is bread. Anything that’s light and creates a soft mesh upon chewing can help get the hair out of your throat quickly and painlessly.
Hard foods like biscuits or cookies might also come to mind and, while they might help get the job done, they might irritate your throat.
Liquids won’t be of much help here, as they will most often just pass through the throat without moving the stuck hair along.
Pulling It Out With Your Fingers
If the above solutions still haven’t solved your pesky hair problem, there’s always the option to try and pull it out with your fingers.
It might be best to leave this option as a last resort – you know, if all else fails – for a couple of reasons.
Firstly, we have to stress the importance of washing your hands before attempting this, even if you haven’t been in contact with any dirty surfaces or objects.
The throat is a highly sensitive area, and tonsils serve to keep any bacteria from going straight into our system.
If you try to pull a hair out of your throat with dirty hands, your tonsils will pick up the bacteria from your fingers and swell up. This would leave you in a situation much worse than the one you started with.
So again, be very mindful of hygiene here.
Apart from the whole bacteria problem, if you try to push your fingers at the back of your throat to get the hair out, it might trigger a natural reaction – a gag reflex. Again, you don’t want to put additional stress on your body, so it’s best to leave these “invasive” methods last.
Common Causes And Prevention
How does hair get stuck in your throat in the first place?
There’s actually a bunch of ways for hairs to end up in your throat unnoticed in everyday situations. Let’s take a look at some cases where that could happen.
Natural Hair Loss
First of all, the average person loses something between 50 to 100 hairs a day. This is perfectly normal, and often goes by unnoticed. We can ingest stray hair while we sleep or during lunchtime.
Pet Hair
Another common source could be a pet. Cats and dogs shed lots of fur all year round, so it’s no surprise that some of the hairs they shed could end up on you while playing or laying on the same bed.
Keep an eye out for your pet’s hair on the furniture, around plates and glasses; these things come with the territory when owning little furballs.
Not Tying Your Hair
Running or working out without tying up your hair could also be the cause of a stuck hair. While moving and jumping all over the place, all while breathing heavily, we can easily ingest hair if it’s left flying around.
This issue is easily solvable though. Simply consider a hat, a headband or a scrunchie if you see it happening often.
Messy Beards
Lastly, guys with untrimmed or unkempt beards can often swallow their hair without noticing. These hairs are short and go by unnoticed. Long mustaches also often end up in the mouth and it’s easy to bite some off.
If you have a long beard, try trimming it and keeping it tidy. This can prevent unwanted situations for you and the people around you. Check out this article for some great tips on keeping your beard in tip top condition.
Constant Feeling Of Hair Stuck In Your Throat?
So you’ve tried every solution you could find, but still haven’t solved your problem?
If the sensation persists, consider talking to a medical professional about it. These sensations can arise from a plethora of causes, such as allergies, small pieces of food, or even a common cold.
While we’re all familiar with the sensation of our throats tickling every now and then, we might sometimes mistake other things for hair.
Perhaps you might be dealing with a globus sensation, which has been reported to cause symptoms such as:
- Throat itching
- Throat swelling
- Constant urge to clear your throat
If this sounds like something you’re going through, you can read more about it here. It’s really not recommended to wait and go day-to-day hoping that, whatever it is, it’ll just sort itself out.
Conclusion
There are many everyday situations where we can involuntarily ingest a hair or two. It can either be through food, during sleep or exercise or even while playing with our pets.
This problem is easy to solve, generally speaking. With the list of methods and tips we’ve provided here you should be able to get rid of that tickling sensation in no time.
If, however, you notice that the sensation isn’t going away, and all the attempts at clearing your throat are resolving in irritation and further discomfort, seek medical help, as it could be something else that’s causing it.
