Why does someone require a swallowing specialist?

Just like breathing, swallowing is an essential activity of life. On an average, an adult swallow somewhere between 500-700 times a day. And, this activity occurs even when you are sleeping. Difficulty in swallowing is not a condition but a symptom of many conditions.

Medically known as dysphagia, in most cases the difficulty in swallowing is not severe and goes away in a week or two.

However, in some cases it can be a symptom of a tumor or a disorder. Dysphagia is a condition that is mostly observed in seniors even though it can occur in any age group.

Weather changes, drinking cold water, having cold, or having certain foods excessively can cause mild difficulty in swallowing.

If the difficulty is not gone in a day or two, you might want to consider seeing an ENT specialist or an otolaryngologist.

Swallowing occurs in 4 related stages and the 1st stage takes place in the mouth in the form of preparation.

Swallowing is a complex mechanism and various organs are involved in it to make it a smooth passage for food or liquid you take in a day.

Here are the 4 stages involved in the swallowing process. The first and second stages need your effort but the third and fourth stages occur without you knowing them.

1. 1st Stage: Foods or liquids in the mouth are prepared and gathered together by the tongue to be swallowed.
2. 2nd Stage: The actual swallowing starts when the tongue pushes the gathered food or liquid at the back of the mouth. This is called oral stage.
3. 3rd Stage: This stage is known as the pharyngeal stage where the food or liquid enters the esophagus after passing through the pharynx.
4. 4th Stage: From the esophagus, the food or liquid is pushed into the stomach, completing the swallowing process. This is known as the esophageal stage.

Dysphagia: Causes

There can be many reasons for dysphagia as it is a symptom of many conditions such as swallowing disorders, lumps in the throat, strep throat, throat cancer, tonsillitis, and mouth ulcer.

Here are a few frequent causes behind this symptom.

Throat Infections: Overuse of voice, sore throat, tonsillitis, and infections such as cold or flu can cause dysphagia.

Weakness of Throat Muscles: Age-related weakness, scar of esophagus, and throat muscle weakness.

These are the common causes and, in some cases, the following conditions can cause difficulty in swallowing.

• Nerve Diseases: Nerve conditions such as Parkinson’s disease, multiple sclerosis, Lou Gehrig’s disease, or stroke
• Cancerous Tumors: Throat cancer, lung cancer, and esophageal cancers

Besides, certain medications such as kinins, substance P, and prostaglandins (used for inflammation) can also cause dysphagia.

Typical Symptoms of Dysphagia

The primary symptom is difficulty in swallowing. Besides that, drooling, inability to move saliva, and food particles getting stuck in the throat or a feeling that they are stuck are a few symptoms.

In severe conditions, feeling the presence of lumps in the throat, developing infections in mouth, pneumonia, changed voice, and losing weight are observed.

The Role of ENT Specialists in Treating Swallowing Disorders:

ENT specialists are the designated specialists to see when you are feeling throat pain or difficulty in swallowing.

As swallowing difficulty is not a diagnosis but a symptom, your ENT specialist needs to work with other specialists such as speech language pathologists, neurologists, and gastroenterologists based on the diagnosis.

• During the treatment process, the ENT specialist will enquire about your recent medical history and might conduct a physical throat exam using laryngoscope.
• Flexible endoscopic evaluation (also known as FEES) is conducted to check the accuracy of throat muscular action.

Various tests and examinations are done before finding the root cause of the swallowing difficulty. The prognosis for swallowing in difficulty is purely based on the root cause.

The best way to find a chronic pain in swallowing is seeking treatment from the best ENT specialist in your locality. Besides the medications, follow the simple lifestyle changes below for better treatment outcomes.

• Make changes in the texture and size of food you swallow
• Follow the posture changes as suggested by your ENT doctor
• Follow yogic practices and exercises to strengthen your throat muscles