Difficulty Swallowing

Difficulty swallowing is an annoying and painful condition and a lot of time it’s a symptom of another health condition. Dysphagia could become very painful in some cases, and it might lead to other complications.

Difficulty swallowing

Difficulty swallowing is a frequent condition of the inability to normally swallow in normal cases because difficulty swallowing could occur occasionally when eating rapidly or having a large bite, for example.

Swallowing difficulties could occur at any age, but they’re more common in the elderly.

Causes of difficulty swallowing

Swallowing difficulties could occur in two conditions:

Esophageal dysphagia

The patient feels like the food is stuck under the throat or in the chest, and some of the causes are:

• Achalasia, which makes the esophagus unable to pass the food correctly.
• Esophageal narrowing or spasm.
• Esophageal tumors.
• Eosinophilic esophagitis, which is an immune disease that causes the white blood cells to accumulate in the esophagus.
• GERD.
• Scleroderma, which is a condition that causes tissue stiffness and hardness in the esophagus.
• Radiation therapy, which could cause esophageal inflammation and scarring.

Oropharyngeal dysphagia

In this case, there is a difficulty in passing the food from the mouth and throat to the esophagus due to a weakness in the throat muscles, and some of the causes are:

• Pharyngoesophageal diverticulum (Zenker diverticulum), which is a condition that causes a pouch to form in the throat, in which the food is collected, which causes dysphagia.
• Neural disorders, such as multiple sclerosis, Parkinson’s disease, and muscle atrophy.
• Sudden neurological damage, like stroke, or damage in the brain or spinal cord.
• Certain cancers and radiation therapy.

Symptoms of difficulty swallowing

Dysphagia might be accompanied by other symptoms, such as:

• Not being able to swallow anything at all.
• Pain during swallowing.
• Drooling.
• Food regurgitation.
• Heartburn.
• Hoarseness.
• Coughing or gagging during swallowing.

Complications of difficulty swallowing

• Aspiration pneumonia, in case food or drink enters the airway while trying to swallow.
• Weight loss, malnutrition, and dehydration.
• Choking as a result of a complete blockage in the airway.

Diagnosis of difficulty swallowing

• Asking the patient about the symptom.
• Physical examination.
• Study the swallowing process.
• Imaging tests.

Treatment of difficulty swallowing

Treating swallowing difficulties depends on the cause, and it includes:

• Medications.
• Learning the correct swallowing technique.
• Surgery in some cases.
• Botox injections to relax the muscle.