If you have problems swallowing pills, try this!

Even the best of us have encountered a pill — or should I say a “horse pill” — that’s really difficult to swallow.

And of course some have problems with sending even regular-sized ones down the hatch.

If you do, don’t think you’re alone. Dr. Walter Haefeli, a pharmacology researcher in Germany said that one-third of us suffer from this problem.

And he wanted to help.

So he found 150 people with pill swallowing “issues” to test two methods he uncovered.

The first he called “the pop bottle.” And around 60 percent of the people in his study who tried it said popping a pill was much easier this way.

Here’s how it works.

Put the pill on your tongue and then put your lips tightly around a plastic bottle of water. Tilt your head back, and as you do suck some water out of the bottle and swallow.

The second method got more rave reviews than the first. Over 90 percent of Dr. Haefeli’s test swallowers liked this technique, one he calls “lean forward.” And it works best with capsules.

Place the capsule on your tongue, and then while taking a sip of water, lean forward as you swallow it.

Dr. Haefeli said that the trick comes because the capsules are lighter than the water in your mouth, which means they will “float.”

When you “tilt your head forward, the capsule will move toward your throat” and make it go down easier.

Experts aren’t sure why some people have trouble swallowing pills and others don’t, but many believe it has to do with the size of our throat.

And of course, the size of the pill we’re trying to get down our throat…

Sources:
“Trouble swallowing pills? Try the ‘Pop Bottle’ or ‘Lean Forward'” Maanvi Singh, November 11, 2014, NPR, npr.org