Afraid of Swallowing Pills? You Are in Very Large Company

Food is soft, warm and chewed into a shape your throat expects. A pill is the opposite: hard, dry, and often large. Many people tense up the moment they know something solid is coming, and a tense throat makes the job harder. That is why the fear tends to grow with each failed attempt.

A pill can feel stuck, and for most people that feeling passes with a few sips of water. If you regularly feel that pills or food catch in your throat, if swallowing hurts, or if you cough or choke when you swallow, speak with your doctor. Ongoing trouble swallowing has a medical name, dysphagia, and it deserves a proper check rather than a workaround.

In a 2014 study from Heidelberg University Hospital, published in the Annals of Family Medicine, 151 adults tried two simple methods (Schiele et al., 2014).

The pop-bottle method, for tablets. Fill a flexible plastic water bottle. Place the tablet on your tongue, close your lips tightly around the bottle opening and drink with a sucking motion, without letting air in. In the study it made swallowing tablets substantially easier in about 60% of cases.

The lean-forward method, for capsules. Place the capsule on your tongue, take a sip of water without swallowing, then bend your head forward, chin toward your chest, and swallow in that position. The capsule floats toward the back of the mouth. In the study it helped in about 89% of cases.

Neither method was tested with any Smart Strips product, and neither replaces advice from your doctor.

For daily supplements, there is a third option. Smart Strips are oral dissolvable strips: an ultra-thin strip that you place on your tongue, where it dissolves in 7 to 30 seconds. No water, no pill, nothing to chew. Part of each dose is taken up through the lining of the mouth and the rest is swallowed with saliva. According to the company, the format offers up to 95% bioavailability and is up to 4 times faster and up to 30% more effective than a conventional tablet.

The range covers ten formulas, so a whole routine can move to one format: IMMUNE and NMN for daily habits, BEAUTÉ for skin, hair and nails, FOCUS for the afternoon, Z-z-Zen for the night. See what oral dissolvable strips are, or compare them in oral strips vs pills, capsules and gummies.

This applies to supplements only. Never stop, crush or replace a prescribed medicine without asking your doctor or pharmacist first.

Smart Strips are made in the USA in an FDA registered, cGMP certified facility and ship from Florida in 1 to 5 business days. Take the quiz · Shop all strips

These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.