Hello, I m pretty sure I inhaled a piece of corn last night..I did it about a month ago too and was surprised it went down so easily without much couphing..I put my head down to my feet and managed to cough it out. I don t know what to do..I do have some mucus and some coughing fits but I m thinking maybe it s in my head? But I also feel like something is in my lungs that needs to be coughed up...what to do?
The airways have a strong defense mechanism, thus the corn may have come out and not noticed by you. Even if it hasn`t come out, it will be dealt by body defenses and may not cause any problem. However, it can get lodged in the bronchial tree(airways) depending on it's size. It may lead to collapse of a portion of lung depending on the site of impaction and may lead to infection. If you are having symptoms, a chest X-ray or CT Scan should be done to confirm the diagnosis and to identify the site of impaction. Infection will have to be treated with antibiotics. Subsequently, it can be removed by performing a bronchoscopy.