Does the word “pill” cause a feeling of tension and uneasiness, to the point where it is impossible to swallow the said pill? There may be a fear of it getting lodged into the back of the throat and actually quite literally getting stuck. Many have the same problem of this occurring. Having a pill get stuck to the back of the throat can lead to choking, puking or gagging. This can deter someone from taking the pills all together. If these pills were for medical purposes, it could cause someone to get sicker or worsen symptoms. Just know, one in three people have trouble with swallowing pills.

From mostly medium to especially large pills, many have great struggles trying to swallow them. Smaller pills tend to be easy for most to swallow. The simple solution for many is to say to just cut them, or split open the capsules and spill the contents if able and mix them into a food. Some pills, this can work. For any pill that can be split, be sure to use a pill splitter. This ensures that it has been split equally. Also, do not put the pills too far ahead of time. The contents could start to deteriorate or lose potency if left exposed too long. Some come in capsules are filled. These can be dumped easily into various foods, like yogurt. For both of these, make sure it is safe to do beforehand. If it is a prescribed medication, talk to a doctor before proceeding.

So the pill that comes along cannot be split or broken. No worries. Professionals have researched the best, most efficient ways to taking them. There are specialized cups that section off the pill, then it slips within the liquid and mix. A common fix is with the pop-bottle method. Fill a plastic bottle with water, then put the tablet on the tongue. Seal off the bottle opening with tight lips, then just suck water down without taking in air. This helped improve over 60% of the people tested. Another successful technique is the lean-forward method. Again, put the pill on the tongue and take a sip of water without swallowing. Tip the chin to the chest, then swallow while head remains tilted. This helped 89% of those tested.

But why is swallowing a pill so hard? Everyone eats and drinks every day, which requires some sort of swallowing. Leanne Goldberg, a speech and language pathologist at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York, explains what makes it difficult for so many people. She also specializes in swallowing and voice disorders.

Goldberg said, “A pill is a solid substance. We learned that we have to chew something that is solid. It takes a mental shift to relax the throat and be able to swallow something that we fear could cause us to choke.”

Some studies show a connection to a bad experience as a child, a gag reflex or just a very negative perception. There are various reasons, and none should render a person hopeless of fixing the problem.

So do not worry about getting choked up if there are prescription or various other types of pills on the way. Remember to relax. Then find the best method to help the pill go down the easiest. Now the ‘hard pill to swallow’ just became that much easier.