You know that thing actors do when their character has to swallow a pill; they jerk their heads back as if it’s really a big deal. Do real people ever do this? I don’t think I have ever witnessed it IRL. Is it some sort of affectation? Do they teach this sort of shit in actor school?
I’ve seen patients do this. As far as I’m concerned, it doesn’t aid in the biomechanics of the swallowing process, but if it enables the patient to swallow the damn pill, I don’t give a hoot.
My mother does this. It’s to jog the pill to the back of her throat to help her swallow it.
When I place the pill in my mouth, I put the pill at the very back of my tongue. Once I sip the liquid to help the pill go down, I tilt (Not jerk) my head back so the pill doesn’t make it’s way back to the front of my mouth.
I blame my Grandmother. She was the one who taught me how to swallow pills.
What I don’t get is people who can swallow pills with out the use of any liquid!
I do this. I take several pills in the morning, as a handfull, and think it does aid in the biomechanics of the swallowing process. At least, it feels like it does, which is all I have to go on.
Nobody is watching and there’d be no dramatic benefit in my case.
A friend of mine not only take aspirin without water he also *chews *it.
Not only this, but I can take pills, without any liquid, while my head tilting forward. Fighting gravity and all!
Our mouths are actually very efficient at getting stuff down our throats.
My husband used to have a lot of difficulty swallowing pills, and he did that head-jerking thing. I think it was just a psychological aid. He didn’t find it very funny when our 2-yr-old would imitate him - a toddler isn’t really mocking you, but if you’re already self-conscious it can feel that way. 
This is exactly why I do it. I’m nervous about it - so I do the jerk thing. It does help. (in my mind)
I do the head-jerking thing, always have. No one “taught” me to do it. I do it to knock the pill quickly back from the front of my tongue to the back so I can swallow it without gagging. If it touches the front of my tongue I’ll gag.
I mostly only do it when swallowing uncoated pills. They tend to stick to my tongue, so after I take a sip of water a little jerk of my head shakes them loose and makes them easier to swallow.
Most pills seem to stick to my tongue and jerking my head back makes the water flow and carry the pill down. Pills that aren’t sticky I can just swallow without drinking anything or head jerking.
My mom fills her mouth with water, tilts her head back, drops the pill in her mouth, ensuring that it’s floating in the water, and shakes her head vigorously from side to side as she swallows it. I can’t imagine what’s so hard about swallowing.
On the other hand, 99 percent of the time someone takes a pill on television or in a movie, he or she does it without water, just pops it in the mouth and chews it. WTF is that?
Maybe he just likes the taste of aspirin? I do.
I’m having trouble picturing what the OP is talking about. Does anyone have a scene reference, or better yet, a video link? Is it just tilting their heads back? I just toss the pills in my mouth and dry-swallow them (unless I have a sore throat, which tends to make them get stuck). I guess I tilt my head back during the “tossing” phase of the operation, but it’s not a sudden movement.
It’s about gravity, man.
I do it when I dry swallow pills. It’s like throwing it at the back of my throat so all I have to do is swallow once. Although it doesn’t work as well if my mouth is extremely dry, like after I first get up.
I took a whole class on Dysphagia (swallowing problems) and the professor told us that you should actually tilt your chin down to take pills. Because of the way the trachea and the esophagus are aligned, this opens the esophagus more and lessens the odds of you aspirating or choking on the pill while taking it. I suppose it’s not really necessary for healthy people, but if you have dysphagia, throwing your head back with a bunch of liquid splashing around in your mouth is not a good idea. Dry swallowing pills is also not recommended.
I am amazed by people that can chew aspirin. I bit into it once by accident and that is the closest I have ever come to instantly vomiting on the spot because of the taste of something. I had to race to the sink to gag and retch and desperately wash out my mouth. Nothing before or since has ever tasted as bad as that did.
It’s easy. Just make sure your mouth is filled with spit first. And don’t do it with naproxen.
Here’s all ya gotta do.
Swallow three pills every day starting in sixth grade an continuing into college.
That’s what I had to do with anti-seizure medicine.
After that you will be able to swallow any kind of pill with just your natural spit.
For solid pills you jerk your head back. For capsules that float you lean your head forward and it floats to the back of your throat. It is known.