What Really Happens When You Swallow Gum?

I was a woman on a mission the other day. I think everyone gets in one of those moods every once in a while where straightening up and vacuuming just isn’t going to cut it so the mops and buckets and cleaning solutions get pulled out and the gloves get snapped on.

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While doing a deep cleaning of my kitchen, I decided to wipe down the entire refrigerator, including the top of it which is where I found my son’s secret hiding spot. His gum secret hiding spot.

For some reason, my five-year-old son decided that the best place to “save” his gum is on top of our refrigerator. When I asked why there, he shrugged and told me it was the only safe place he could think of where I wouldn’t see it (well played son, well played. I’m so short that I can’t even see the top shelf of our refrigerator).

My son's reply made me laugh. I remember being not much older than him when someone gave me my very own pack of Big Red gum and because it was my first time ever having gum, I swallowed each piece, not knowing what else to do with it. I'll spare you the details, but I’ll tell you that the gum was a lot more appealing going in than it was coming out.

If you’re someone who occasionally swallows your gum, you’re probably fine, but you need to know that swallowing too much gum can lead to an uncomfortable blockage, and in the worst-case scenario, it could mean that you would have to have surgery to remove the blockage. Imagine trying to tell your friends about that with a straight face!