Another medical story has gone viral, specifically the new TikTok trick that lets one stop his gag reflex. Following on from the grand "here's how you splint" hit, people on the popular social media site are sharing a hack that apparently stops their gag reflex.
An IFL Science report specified that in one video that's currently circulating, one TikTok user shows the technique while a voiceover is explaining it.
That video is by no means the first time the TikTok trick has been shared on the site, with others performing similar hacks last year.
@gemmalawson57 Absolute game changer! Thank me later #ForYou #GagReflex #FYP #DirtyThirties ♬ Image getting clout by dueting me - H A R R Y ;)
It may appear positive, although some of the steps the so-called "TikTokers" are doing are described as "wired" and unnecessary extras, and they could do with moving to a little different spot to apply pressure.
Studies About Stopping the Gag Reflex
A lot of studies have looked into the matter. Dentists, for instance, have a specific interest in stopping the gag reflex, given their work needs them to be in what's known as the "spew zone."
First, the research, Altering the Gag Reflex Via a Palm Pressure Point, published in the Journal of the American Dental Association, saw pressure applied to a small group of volunteers' palms prior to their receipt of dental treatment.
In this paper, the researchers wrote, 36 neurological intact subjects went through a series of gag reflex trials. Here, they developed a hand pressure device for the volunteers to where, which provided a constant force, and they described a GTPI or gag trigger point index scale.
On the basis of this scale, the study authors split subjects into a hypersensitive group and a control or expected-sensitivity group.
Applying Pressure Point
Researchers discovered that when pressure was applied to the palm, the gag reflex moved backward, further into the mouths of the patients; if the patient gagged with something not quite far into their mouth, the point which they began to gag would be further back following application of such pressure.
The study investigators concluded that applying pressure points, specifically during dental procedures, would lessen the possibility of stimulating a gag reflex, although they stressed there is a need for more studies.
An effective approach to dampen the gag reflex is a distraction, and thus, it could be that this is what took place or that there was an effect of a placebo in play.
Nevertheless, others have tried to account for this through the application of pressure to multiple areas of a number of subjects.
Published in the National Library of Medicine, the study applied pressure to the acupuncture point, specifically the P-6 Neikuan, located on the wrist, which has been used in the Far East for thousands of years for its anti-anxiety and anti-nausea properties.
Meanwhile, a study published in Nature indicated, the mode of action in regulating gag reflex though acupuncture is not completely understood. It's covering the spectrum of gag reflexes from mild end nausea to the severe end that concludes in vomiting.
To conclude, reports have it that TikTok is possibly onto something on this particular trick, although one can probably stop pinching his skin between his thumb and finger and rather apply pressure to his wrist at the "P-6" site.
Related information is shown on AcuBirth's YouTube video below:
Check out more news and information on Medicine & Health and Tech & Innovation in Science Times.
