We have come across cases where adult, sensitive women want syrups in place of tablets as they find swallowing difficult and downright unpleasant.
It causes one in three people to gag, vomit, or Choke.
Calcium tablets with Vitamin D added, are huge and so is our routine paracetamol.
Worst can be gelatine type of capsules as they get moulded and keep changing the shape. Some Gelatin Capsules do emit a substance right within the mouth making swallowing experience all the more unpleasant.
1. The Pop Bottle method is designed for big tablets:
- Keep a bottle full of water near mouth with a tablet. Do not let air in.
- Tablet is in the mouth and just swallow keeping contact with using suckling motion to swallow the tablet and water together with a sip of water. Make sure of continuity.
- Close lips tightly around the bottle so that no air enters the mouth.
Worth trying with difficult tablets.
2. The Lean Forward Method is Designed for swallowing capsules.
- Put capsule on the tongue. Tilt chin towards the chest.
- Take a sip of water but do not swallow yet.
- Swallow the capsule and water while the head is bent.
If the fear factor of swallowing stays, liquid medicines is a better choice but every medicine meant for adults is not available yet in liquid form.
Pharma Industry is too keen to please the kids by giving Kadvi Dawai in Flavored forms. What about senior citizens who find swallowing antioxidant type of gelatine pills difficult to take? Calcium and Vitamin D Syrups are plenty to choose from and so is anti-fever medicines and antibiotics.
We as doctors can wish for "Achhe Din" for our senior citizens with practical tips to take handy medicines on day to day basis, the medicines which are rich in substance and rich in flavours too.