Sweet: Mother’s kiss also makes a handy tool
Whoever said laughter is the best medicine didn’t know about a “mother’s kiss.” As it turns out, a recent case review study of nasal foreign bodies found that a mother’s kiss is the best and safest way to remove the object from the nose of a small child or infant.
Using this technique an adult known and trusted by the child blocks the unaffected nostril and blows into the child’s mouth. The blowing should be gentle at first until the adult feels the resistance caused by closure of the glottis (the top of the windpipe at the vocal cords). Then the adult blows with more force which will then usually expel the nasal foreign body. If not expelled, the object often moves to the end of the nostril where it can be more easily reached.
The case review study of 154 patients found this technique very successful and worked on a variety of foreign bodies from a doll’s shoe to beads, beans, sausage and a dead bug. It also avoided trauma caused by instruments in a wiggling child, or the need for general anesthesia.