# Inducing vomitting without finger **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 10, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745 "2003-09-10T13:40:45Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![optimystique](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/b38774/32.png) [@optimystique](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/optimystique)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/1 "2003-09-10T13:40:45Z")
Is this normal? - I can induce vomitting without using a finger to dig down my throat (as seen in tv shows and movies). I simply extend my tongue a little, work some throat muscles and I get the onset of vomitting sensation. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 1:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/2 "2003-09-10T13:52:34Z")
Nope, not unusal. I can do it rather easily too. Just lean over the toilet and tighten my stomach a bit until I can feel revers paristolsis (sp?) doing it’s thing. Wow, the women’ll come flockin’ to me now, eh? ---
**Author:** ![williamweigand](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/b3f665/32.png) [@williamweigand](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/williamweigand)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 3:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/3 "2003-09-10T15:58:34Z")
Just fixate on Bonnie Tyler singing “It’s A Heartache”. It worked for me. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/4 "2003-09-10T16:24:00Z")
Maybe you have a hyperactive gag reflex. In which case I will never date you. ---
**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 4:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/5 "2003-09-10T16:38:57Z")
I just think of Rosanne Barr in the nude…I’d cite the disgusting horror, but it’s illegal in 57 countries. Really tho’ I hear anorexics get this down to an artform. I also read that vomiting causes the enamel on your teeth to erode.[Cite](http://www-unix.oit.umass.edu/~excs597k/claudio/bninfo.htm) Want to upchuck some more? ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/6 "2003-09-10T16:44:42Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by frixxxx \* > \*\*Really tho’ I hear anorexics get this down to an artform. > \*\* Bulimics. ---
**Author:** ![frixxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/eb9ed0/32.png) [@frixxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/frixxxx)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 4:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/7 "2003-09-10T16:50:59Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by panache45 \* > \*\*Bulimics. \*\* Them 2…:smack: ---
**Author:** ![Bear\_Nenno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bear_nenno/32/3358_2.png) [@Bear\_Nenno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bear_Nenno)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 7:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/8 "2003-09-10T19:11:04Z")
Epicac works for me… ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/9 "2003-09-10T19:15:00Z")
The consensus in the world of medicine has moved away from induced vomiting as a good treatment for poisoning, and syrup of ipecac is no longer on the list of things to keep in a first aid kit. There is rarely a good reason to induce vomiting. If any of you are barfing to get thin, consider what you’d look like, thin, and smiling with brown, rotting teeth. Now, go talk to your doctor. You have big, big problems. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2003, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/inducing-vomitting-without-finger/200745/10 "2003-09-10T19:22:50Z")
My second paragraph in the previous post was rather, um, overstated. I was harsher than I needed to be. If I hurt anybody’s feelings, I apologize. Eating disorders are a serious matter, but my post seems unduly nasty, in retrospect.