Swallowing Flies Whilst Exercising!

What’s the worse thing that can happen when exercising? 

I think a few of us have been there with this topic especially if you have run the chicken route in Brockworth.  Imagine running along, breathing through your mouth and Bam! A creature decides to either hit you smack in the face or even worse, dive bombs down your throat......

Do you think about how long the creature would survive? Where does it actually go. I’ve always assumed we swallow or inhale them, but sometimes it seems as if your mouth is a vacuum when you’re running and breathing hard. 

I’d always assumed that when a fly went into your mouth that your epiglottis would close over the larynx and You would just swallow it. It would then fly around on the way to the stomach where it will eventually die along the route.  But thinking about it a little bit more, it’s quite possible the fly is inhaled. They dart into your mouth when you are least expecting it. That means your brain doesn’t know that it should be getting the mechanisms in your mouth ready to swallow. Your throat will be open, allowing you to breath whilst you are exercising, hence the risk of swallowing creatures........

Will An Inhaled Creature Go Into Your Lungs?

It’s not very likely that the creature will get very far. The far more likely scenario is that you’ll cough like crazy (in fact you might feel like you’re coughing your lungs up). The offending creature will then be coughed into your mouth along with mucus to either eject it or swallow it. Much the same as would happen if you had a piece of food “go down the wrong way”. Your body’s cough reflex will help you to get it out so that you can breathe freely again.

The moral of this story is to keep your mouth closed when exercising on particular routes where it’s common.  But watch out as these creatures will hit you when unexpected and if it does, get some water in your mouth to either swallow or eject it..........