During my childhood days (in the 60s), the way my family dealt with a fish bone stuck in the throat was to swallow a lump of cooked rice, unless it was a big bone. The idea is that the rice will wrap around the bone, thus protecting the walls of the throat and the oesophagus, and take the bone with it down to the stomach, where the digestive acid will break down the bone.
When the Queen Mother had a fish bone stuck in her throat, I heard on the news that she had to go to the hospital. I’d immediately thought at the time, “She could’ve adapted the Chinese method by swallowing a lump of bread, which almost every Western household will have in ready supply.” But then, she was the Queen Mother, so no simple folk remedy for her — it had to be professional help. Most Westerners’ approach, too, I think, from what I’ve seen in my decades here.
(Singapore, 1960s)
No comments:
Post a Comment