Seizures can you swallow your tongue

While a person loses a lot of muscle control during a seizure, there is tissue in your mouth beneath your tongue that holds it in place. If anything is in their mouth while having a seizure, they could become seriously injured. Seizures are relatively common. About 1 in 10 people will have one seizure during their lifetime, according to the Epilepsy Foundation of Michigan. There are several types of seizures, each with their own symptoms, though generally these symptoms overlap.

Most seizures tend to be generalized tonic-clonic seizures also called grand mal seizures. During these seizures, a person may experience :. Knowing what to do if you see someone having a seizure can come in handy. To determine if calling or an emergency number is necessary, ask yourself these questions.

Remember never to put anything in the mouth of a person having a seizure because it could injure or choke them. Knowing what really happens during a seizure and how to react could be a big help to someone in the future.

Because seizures are quite common, you might one day be called on to help. Advertising on our site helps support our mission. We do not endorse non-Cleveland Clinic products or services. But when something provokes a seizure, such as binge drinking, sleep deprivation or a new medication, these are not related to epilepsy. Fact: Epilepsy is an umbrella term covering many types of seizure and epileptic disorders. It is a functional, physical problem, not a mental one, and it has many unidentifiable causes.

Fact: They often can, and they do. Most professions — including those in the highest tiers of business, government, justice system, sports and medicine — can accommodate a person with epilepsy. If a person is lying on their back, the relaxed tongue can block the throat and partially or completely obstruct their breathing. People with obstructive sleep apnea can experience this during sleep, and there is also a risk of it occurring when a person falls unconscious.

Moving someone who is unconscious into the recovery position prevents the tongue from falling back toward the throat. People can follow these steps to put someone into the recovery position:.

In a survey , people with epilepsy completed a questionnaire about the rate of oral injury during seizures. The researchers found that:. Tongue biting, which may puncture the tongue on one or both sides, is a common injury in seizures.

However, while first aid advice for seizures used to recommend holding down the tongue to prevent swallowing or injury, doctors now know that this practice is dangerous. According to Epilepsy Ontario , this can cause:. If the seizure lasts longer than 5 minutes , call Head injuries are common during seizures. It is important that bystanders know what to do if someone injures their head, both during a seizure and in other situations.

If someone has a suspected head injury and they are unconscious, people can help by:. If the person is conscious, it is best to help them move into the position they find most comfortable rather than into the recovery position. However, the other tips still apply. It is essential to keep checking that the person is still conscious and breathing normally until the ambulance arrives and to avoid leaving them unsupervised. If a person has epilepsy and has had a seizure before, they can contact their doctor.

No emergency room has ever done anything for me. When the medical staff hear that someone with epilepsy has arrived, they push the stretcher into a corner so the person can sleep it off. Because emergency rooms work on triage, tending to the most-urgent medical problems first, and people with epilepsy get progressively better as more time passes from the seizure, we can wait for as long as a day to be seen. I have repeatedly been forced to contact friends or family to come get me and then sign myself out against medical advice.

And that little nap costs many thousands of dollars. When someone falls into a convulsion, check your watch, and start timing. There is the possibility of status epilepticus — a nonstop seizure that can cause significant damage and even kill.

Ambulances have drugs on board that stop those types of convulsions instantly. But because those kinds of seizures are relatively rare, there is no reason to call an ambulance unless four minutes have passed. At that point, play it safe, and bring in the professionals. And if only everyone in the world knew these rules, those among us with epilepsy would not have to be so frightened whenever we leave our homes that we might be killed or injured that day because of uninformed best intentions.

Kurt Eichenwald is the New York Times— bestselling author of five nonfiction books, including A Mind Unraveled , about living with intractable epilepsy. Important: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and not Everyday Health.

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