London W10 6DZ Mitch Murray Speech and Language Therapist, St. Mary's Hospital Trust. Before swallowing food is chewed and held in the mouth. There is nothing in the throat, the windpipe is open and breathing occurs. When you swallow, the food is pushed into the throat, and the windpipe closes off .
Food then slips down the tube at the back leading to the stomach.
Because the windpipe is closed, you momentarily stop breathing. Once the food has passed through the throat, the windpipe opens up again and breathing can resume. If you have any food or drink in your throat when your windpipe is open and you are breathing, there is a chance it could fall into the windpipe. This is experienced as 'going down the wrong way' and coughing and spluttering usually ensues. The problem is best understood by looking at the three different stages involved in swallowing, and associated behaviours, separately.