I’m currently suffering with a nasty sickness bug and was wondering why my mouth fills with saliva right before I vomit?
NSFW just incase
In: 3025
Supposedly “hypersalivation” happens because the two parts that control vomiting and salivation in our brain are so close to each other that cascades(“waves”) of excitation regularly happen and spread to nearby “circuits”, especially accompanying the signal cascade that forces your body into convulsion and vomiting.
Due to the high acidity of our stomach contents, this also serves to protect the mucous membranes so there might even have been evolutionary pressure selecting slightly for that kind of wiring.
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You dont just produce salvia, you produce a lot of water everywhere.
Particulary in mouth salvia will protect a bit your mouth from acid and from bacteria from stomach. Not really a protection but reduction of damage.
High water oroduction is nessesary to create extra pressure for vommiting and to compensate water loss so your digestive system will not be dry.
Two reasons :
First, as said by others the saliva will protect your mouth and throat from the acidity of what is coming from your stomach.
Second, frequently when we vomit, our body thinks we are closed to be poisoned. So to avoid it it throw away what is in the stomach and the saliva in the mouth could participate to reduce risk of poisoning by diluting what is actually in the mouth.
It’s a mechanism to protect your teeth from the acid that you’re vomiting.
Also it’s a good idea to rinse your mouth after throwing up to wash away the acid but not brush your teeth right after it, but waiting about half an hour. For the same reason you shouldn’t drink acidic liquids such as fruit juices before brushing your teeth. Otherwise you brush away the top layer of your teeth.
You know how water slides have a stream of water going down them so riders don’t get slide burns? Think of the saliva like acting as that same water in the slide but instead of protecting the rider (vomit) from the slide (your throat) the saliva can protect your throat from the vomit if it can coat it sufficiently before you throw up.
To act as a lubricant and as barrier between you and the acidic stomach contents.
Whatever comes out has to come out quickly as a way to keep you alive, or as a cruel addition to psychological stress. Ineffective vomiting could leave to stomach contents causing damage to your airways.
Enzymes damage everywhere that isn’t the stomach lining so the body produces mucus as a barrier to stop the damage
Any vomit is a mix of acid and partially digested food from your stomach and so as a precautionary measure, your body lines your mouth with enough saliva to dampen the acidic effect of puke in your mouth when it does eventually come out
Its to protect your Teeth. Stomach Acid is very strong and would damage your Teeth and probably your mouth so you prosuce alot of salive to coat everything and the stomach acid doesnt damage you as much as it could
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