Fingers in mouth = Gagging. Why?

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Gag reflex. Its a safety measure.

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The gag reflex is a reflex contraction of the back of the throat that prevents objects from entering the throat except as part of normal swallowing. This helps prevent choking.

Touching the soft palate evokes a strong gag reflex in most people.

Absence of the gag reflex is a symptom of a number of severe medical conditions, one of which may be damage to the glossopharyngeal nerve.
 
Soldato
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Ah, makes perfect sence now. But the reason I asked was because all I wanted to do was get a fishbone out of my mouth, I would've been able to do it, but this "Gag reflex" Stopped me! :(
 
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You can get quite close to the back of the mouth (pharynx) by sliding your fingers along the top surface of the tongue whilst exhaling slowly. As long as you avoid touching the roof of your mouth (soft palate that gilly mentioned) and don't try to breathe in or swallw at the same time, you should get quite far ;)
 
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j00ni said:
You can get quite close to the back of the mouth (pharynx) by sliding your fingers along the top surface of the tongue whilst exhaling slowly. As long as you avoid touching the roof of your mouth (soft palate that gilly mentioned) and don't try to breathe in or swallw at the same time, you should get quite far ;)

This begs one question..

Why?
 

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j00ni said:
You can get quite close to the back of the mouth (pharynx) by sliding your fingers along the top surface of the tongue whilst exhaling slowly. As long as you avoid touching the roof of your mouth (soft palate that gilly mentioned) and don't try to breathe in or swallw at the same time, you should get quite far ;)

He speaks the truth :p
Ive had a gummy bear get stuck in my through so i pushed it down with my fingures :D
 
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trojan698 said:
This begs one question..

Why?
Because otherwise you would gag every time you tried to swallow anything :p

The reflex is elicited when there is pressure on the soft palate and posterior third of the tongue (ie if there is something large at the back of the throat that would be too large to swallow)

;)
 
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