Your ‘o-soph-a-gus’ is a long tube that joins the back of your mouth with your stomach.  It is about 25 cm (10 inches) long and brings chewed food from your mouth to your stomach.  Food doesn’t just slide down your oesophagus – it is pushed down by muscles in a process called peristalsis.  If peristalsis is reversed, you vomit!  You use 22 muscles to swallow and these are so strong, you can even swallow standing on your head! 

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