If I were to accidentally swallow a sponge, would it kill me?


Question:
An urban legend I heard.

Answers:
If you were to choke on the sponge, it may kill you if you weren't able to cough it up by yourself, or receive medical assistance from someone else (i.e. the Heimlich maneuver). However, sponges tend to be made of natural plant-life in the ocean, so you would probably be okay, since they tend not to be synthetic. However, if you managed to swallow a cheap, synthetic sponge, it may cause irritation of the bowels, or stomach cramps. If you have had serious problems accidentally swallowing sponges, I would recommend staying away from them in the future, or perhaps receiving training in how to masticate.

However, if the sponge happened to have soaked up a poisonous substance, you may want to consider seeking medical attention. If you do not know if the sponge soaked up a poisonous substance, burning in the stomach is a good sign that you might have swallowed something foul. If this still concerns you, going to the emergency room couldn't hurt. I mean, you swallowed a sponge. That's not right. Hope this helps.

Other Answers:
well, i hope u didn't. you might have trouble digesting if u already haven't choked. but i would take an enzime for digesting.

A real one or a fake one? I would think it would get stuck in your throat. I' am sure the Heimlich maneuver wouldn't work with that lodged in. Not a good thing.


Any sponge small enough to "accidentally" swallow will not kill you. It may give you pain in the intestine if you swallow it dry and it survives your stomach acid and expands enough to cause a blockage in one of the turns.


Not if it was clean. But it might take time to go down.




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