Dry drowning

[Hypogirl45]

I saw a story about dry drowning , now I think it's gonna happen to me. I went swimming today, got some water In my mouth , only a little bit. Now I have a cough and thats a symptom. Help!

[Hypogirl45]

Btw didn't swallow water that I know of spit it out and I have to keep clearin my throat, not coughing

[PanchoGoz]

Were you in a chlorine pool? Chlorine irritates my throat for hours after I go swimming...

[Anxious_gal]

I can't go near a pool . it burns my nose the chemical smell, yuk,
you did not breath in or swallow any water keep remembering that, ive often inhaled water it really hurts you chest n you get a bad coughing fit, even so I was still ok

[Anxious_gal]

hope your doing ok x

[AllInMyHead]

Hi Hypogirl,

I'm a windsurfing instructor and have the relevant water-activities first aid qualifications.

As a rule of thumb we would advise people to go to the hospital if they have taken a breath under water (extremely unlikely), or had a bang to the head and gone underwater (because they could have briefly lost consciousness and taken a breath).

Getting water in your mouth, or swallowing it, do not cause dry drowning. If you had inhaled water you really would know about it, so you don't need to worry :hugs:

Your body is very good at keeping water out of your lungs. If you swallow, water won't go anywhere near your airways or lungs. Even if you do take a gulp of breath under water (which would only happen under extreme circumstances - cold shock, unconsciousness, or having held you breath for a long time), the body is clever and can often create a plug of water in the throat that stops water going into your airways.

So what I'm saying is, it's very unlikely to happen in the first place, and, if it did, you would definitely know about it.