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GERD can cause inflammation of the lower esophagus caused by chronic acid reflux, making it hard to swallow. Related: The 7-Day GERD Diet Plan Registered Dietitians Swear By
Difficulty or pain with swallowing is called dysphagia, and it affects up to 15% or more of the population at some point in their lives.
Individuals with pseudodysphagia have difficulty swallowing, and may experience panic before or during the act of swallowing. This can therefore lead to the avoidance of swallowing solid foods and liquids, taking any forms of tablets or pills without the presence of physiological or anatomical abnormalities.
Dysphagia is distinguished from other symptoms including odynophagia, which is defined as painful swallowing, [8] and globus, which is the sensation of a lump in the throat. A person can have dysphagia without odynophagia (dysfunction without pain), odynophagia without dysphagia (pain without dysfunction) or both together.
Both of these features impair the ability of the esophagus to empty contents into the stomach. Patients usually complain of dysphagia to both solids and liquids. Dysphagia to liquids, in particular, is a characteristic of achalasia. Other symptoms of achalasia include regurgitation, night coughing, chest pain, weight loss, and heartburn.
Individuals with difficulty swallowing may find that liquids cause coughing, spluttering, or even aspiration, and that thickening drinks enables them to swallow safely. Patients may be advised to consume thickened liquids after being extubated. Liquid thickness may be measured by two methods, with a viscometer or by line spread test.
Saliva is difficult to swallow, yet food is easy to swallow - eating, in fact, often makes the tightness go away for a time 'Lump' sensation comes and goes from day to day; Symptoms can persist for very long periods, often several months. The symptoms can be mimicked by pushing on the cartilage in the neck, just below the Adam's apple
Swallowing consists of two distinct but interrelated processes: 1. Moving food and liquids from the mouth into the stomach through a set of coordinated muscle movements of the mouth larynx, pharynx and the esophagus 2. Protecting the airway to prevent food and liquids from entering the lungs. [7]