With the improvement of living standards, the number of patients with foreign bodies in the pharynx is increasing. According to the author’s rough statistics, patients with foreign bodies in the pharynx account for almost half of the nocturnal emergencies in the ENT department. These foreign bodies mainly come from accidentally swallowed fish spines, chicken bones, ribs, etc., with fish spines being the most common. My colleagues often say, slightly jokingly, that every time they are on the night shift, they are either on the way to get a fish spike or on the way to get a fish spike. So it seems like a small thing, but not only is it painful for the patient, but it is also a headache for the doctor. So what if you accidentally get a fish spike stuck? Let’s first understand the trajectory of food movement. Our food is first chewed in the mouth, enters the pharynx by swallowing, then the entrance to the esophagus opens and enters the esophagus, which passes through the esophagus and then enters the stomach and intestines for slow digestion. Most food can be digested as soon as it enters the stomach. However, foreign bodies can get stuck in the mouth, tongue, pharynx and esophagus before reaching the stomach. Depending on the location of the fish spike, there are different ways to deal with it. If you accidentally get a foreign body stuck, do not panic. (1) Ask your family to help you, open your mouth and use chopsticks to gently press the tongue to expose the oropharynx as much as possible, and if you can see the fish spike, you can use fast chopsticks or tweezers to remove it. (2) If you cannot see the fish spike, but feel a distinct sensation of foreign body in the pharynx and painful pins and needles when swallowing, please seek medical attention promptly. If it is temporarily inconvenient to seek medical attention for personal reasons (e.g., difficult transportation, poor weather, etc.), stop eating and do not make any attempt to swallow the fish spike. If you wake up after a good night’s sleep and the painful swallowing disappears, it is possible that the fish spike just cut the mucous membrane of the throat and was luckily swallowed into the stomach. Of course, more people are not so lucky, and the painful swallowing sensation persists, requiring immediate medical attention. There are many irresponsible ways to deal with fish spikes, including online and folk methods. I can’t deny that there are still a few people who are lucky enough to swallow a large mouthful of vegetables or steamed buns after getting stuck. There are also people who say that drinking vinegar can soften fish spikes. I just wonder, if vinegar can soften the bones, will the muscles be melted away. As a matter of fact, I have not seen many people who drink vinegar to soften fish spines, but there are many people who have their throat and esophagus mucous membrane burned by vinegar, and many people also have stomach discomfort. You may want to do a test, get two fish spines in a glass of vinegar, the next day in the look at the fish spines are still not? In fact, some people may be stuck in the shallow part of the mouth or throat, so it is easier for the ENT doctor to take it out, but if he wants to swallow the fish spike by swallowing something, then he may bring the fish spike deeper into the throat, which often requires a fiberoptic laryngoscope to remove the fish spike. The more unfortunate case is when the fish spike passes through the throat but gets stuck in the esophagus. The most obvious sensation in this case is a painful obstruction behind the sternum. If this happens, then surgery is necessary to remove the fish spike. Therefore, it is best to go to the hospital promptly if you find a fish spike stuck. Of course, it is best to develop the habit of chewing slowly, talking as little as possible when eating, and concentrating on eating is the best way to prevent it.