TikTok user Ben (@benjhandy) is sharing important, life-saving steps for doing the Heimlich maneuver on yourself when you’re choking alone. But he warns that the natural urge to panic is actually the worst thing you can do.
This isn’t a situation where you can wait around. Ben points out in his TikTok video, which has already gotten 1.9 million views, that once you start choking, you have about five minutes or less to clear your airway. That’s a scary short amount of time.
Brain damage from lack of oxygen can start around the four-minute mark, so you’re really racing against time. According to Bro Bible, Ben doesn’t hold back about how serious this is either. He warns, “In five minutes, you’ll have solved this problem, or you’ll never solve another problem again.”
The panic response could cost you everything
Even though your brain will tell you to freak out, Ben tells everyone to stay calm. Your first move should be calling 911, even if you can’t speak to the operator. You might not be able to tell them what’s happening, but getting emergency services notified is still important. He says, “Maybe they’ll figure out where you are and get there in time.”
Since you can’t rely on the regular Heimlich maneuver, which needs a second person to push on your stomach area, you’ll have to do the move on yourself. This is where the technique gets serious. You need to make your hand into a fist and place it right below your ribcage. Then, you push hard, moving “in and up” at the same time.
This is not supposed to be gentle. The goal of doing the thrust on yourself is to squeeze the diaphragm hard enough to push air up and knock the object loose. Ben stresses that the push needs to be hard enough to work, even if it causes injury. He notes, “This is going to hurt. It could cause internal damage, and that’s how hard you want to press.”
Saving your life is definitely worth the short-term pain. If you’re near furniture or something sturdy, you can actually use that instead of your hand. If you have a railing or a chair nearby, you can lean into it and push your stomach against the edge to get the same result. Sometimes, painful injuries can have unexpected benefits, like how fire ant venom saved a skydiver’s life.
Another effective, though painful, way Ben suggests is slamming your back over and over into a wall or onto the floor. This slamming technique is especially useful for pregnant women who cannot safely apply direct pressure to the baby. Once the object is out, you should head straight to the emergency room.
Even if you feel fine, it’s smart to make sure no internal damage happened while you were doing the intense self-Heimlich maneuver. When it comes to protecting yourself, fighting to safeguard what matters most is crucial.
