Hello,

I'm a pre-med who is having a problem, and I don't know if I should see a Dr. or not. I aspirated some food white eating normally--just a small amount. It's been two weeks, and my lungs just don't feel right. It feels scratchy when I inhale in my trachea area, and I'm getting concerned. It was chewed-up food, so it wasn't large pieces or anything--just particles, but I'm concerned I aspirated them and they're causing irritation or inflamation.

Should I see a Dr. or will this resolve itself?

Thanks,

T

Hello,

I'm a pre-med who is having a problem, and I don't know if I should see a Dr. or not. I aspirated some food white eating normally--just a small amount. It's been two weeks, and my lungs just don't feel right. It feels scratchy when I inhale in my trachea area, and I'm getting concerned. It was chewed-up food, so it wasn't large pieces or anything--just particles, but I'm concerned I aspirated them and they're causing irritation or inflamation.

Should I see a Dr. or will this resolve itself?

Thanks,

T

It is generally normal for people to aspirate; we have several mechanisms in place which compensate for this, including ciliary movement and macrophages in the lungs, which maintain the sterility of the lower airways.

Seems to me, there are two questions you really have:

(a) Did I aspirate something large enough to jam up my large airways (i.e., impede respiration)?
If it's just "particles," then probably not. If you had upper airway obstruction, you would probably hear it (i.e., "stridor," like really coarse rasping that is audible). If you had obstruction within the lungs, you'd probably develop a post-obstructive pneumonia (i.e., fever, sputum [gross phlegm] production). Most likely you are imagining the symptoms (psychosomatic), which I myself have experienced -- if you can go for a while without concentrating on it, you probably don't have this.

(b) Did I aspirate something small enough to enter my smaller airways (i.e., cause pneumonitis or an aspiration pneumonia)?
Again, you'd probably have symptoms of inflammation or infection. Most healthy people can compensate for aspiration and you'd need to have aspirated enough material to overwhelm those mechanisms, which seems unlikely. We all experience "food going down the wrong pipe" which causes us to feel a little junky for a while, but we don't subsequently get sick.

Bottom line: if you are feverish or bringing up funny-colored or smelly phlegm, see a physician. Otherwise, I'd say it's slim that you have anything wrong.

Tough call. I mean, without any other symptoms than "throat irritation" it's likely not anything (especially in an otherwise healthy, young individual. And going to your physician likely won't result in much of anything. The only troubling thing is that it is ongoing for two weeks by your report. If you visited a physician, here is pretty much what I think they could offer you (in no particular order):

Antibiotics. Unlikely, given no symptoms that signify infection. However, some primary care physicians may just administer antibiotics anyway. (Whatever.)

Physical exam. Probably won't show much, unless you actually have pneumonia.

Chest X-ray. Ditto. In fact, it usually lags behind symptoms, so you probably won't see anything on this until a few days after the pneumonia (which you aren't currently describing) developed. And food isn't radiolucent (i.e., can't be seen), so even if it was a humongous chunk of chicken you could only see the post-obstructive effects. But if it was just particulate, you REALLY would see nothing.

Bronchoscopy (to visualize your airways). Pretty gung-ho, but considering symptoms are continuing for two weeks, not an inconceivable option. I ain't no Pulmonologist, so I will defer to any fellows or attendings present.

Those are my thoughts. Anyone else want to comment?

You probably have an upper respiratory infection (likely viral).

Like kinetic has said, unless you are coughing up green, or get fevers/chills, don't sweat it.
Viral URIs get better by themself.
Drink a lot of fluids.

I'm sorry... this thread made me chuckle. Something about someone asking "Did I aspirate food? My trachea doesn't feel right"... Just imagining one of patients asking me that kind of question just cracks me.