Problems in swallowing are grouped under the term "dysphagia". Swallowing problems are demonstrated in many ways. For instance, you may find it difficult to swallow a large chunk of food, or when you eat too fast. The problem can be severe enough to make it nearly impossible to get liquids from the mouth to the stomach. A swallow study for dysphagia helps to correctly diagnose the condition. This is the first step toward identifying the location and extent of the swallowing problem.
Occasional swallowing problems may not require that any medical intervention be done. The problem can worsen as a person gets older, so that action must eventually be taken.
Symptoms of dysphagia range from occasional difficulty swallowing a large morsel of food to actual pain related to swallowing. Some patients complain of the feeling of having food stuck in the throat. Others may actually experience enough constriction in the throat that food is unable to move downward into the stomach. Some people experience acidic backup into the throat. It may be necessary to cut foods into smaller chunks for ease of moving food down the esophageal tube.
Dysphagia can be caused by any of various causes. Some of the common ones are esophageal stricture, narrowing of the esophageal ring, achalasia, tumors and GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease). Foreign bodies in the throat or muscle spasms and radiation therapy can create problems in moving food down the passageway. Other causes are eosinophilic esophagitis and scleroderma.
Oropharyngeal dysphagia manifests itself in symptoms such as gagging, coughing and choking. Some people feel as if foods are traveling down the trachea. This may be due to muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis. A spinal cord injury can cause problems with swallowing. A condition called pharyngeal diverticula happens when a small pouch forms and food particles remain in the throat, rather than continuing into the stomach.
There are several methods to use in diagnosing the location and severity of the condition. The doctor can use a flexible, thin lighted instrument (endoscope) down into your throat so a fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation (FEES) and a visual examination of the esophagus can be made. A manometry procedure require the insertion of a small tube to measure muscle pressure into the esophagus.
Barium is used to define areas of the throat so that images can be made using x-rays or CT scans. Barium can be taken by drinking a solution containing the substance or by swallowing a barium coated pill. X-rays are single images, CT scans take multiple images so that there is a complete cross-sectional image of soft tissues and bones in the throat. MRI technology captures images using magnetic fields and radio waves. A radioactive tracer is used to obtain a positron emission tomography (PET) scan.
The study which checks dynamic swallowing requires the subject to swallow barium coated foods in various consistencies. The images follow the path of the foods as they move through the mouth and down the throat. This set of images will point up issues in the way the muscles work when swallowing happens. The pictures will show instances where the food is traveling into the breathing tube rather than the stomach.
Occasional swallowing problems may not require that any medical intervention be done. The problem can worsen as a person gets older, so that action must eventually be taken.
Symptoms of dysphagia range from occasional difficulty swallowing a large morsel of food to actual pain related to swallowing. Some patients complain of the feeling of having food stuck in the throat. Others may actually experience enough constriction in the throat that food is unable to move downward into the stomach. Some people experience acidic backup into the throat. It may be necessary to cut foods into smaller chunks for ease of moving food down the esophageal tube.
Dysphagia can be caused by any of various causes. Some of the common ones are esophageal stricture, narrowing of the esophageal ring, achalasia, tumors and GERD (gastro-esophageal reflux disease). Foreign bodies in the throat or muscle spasms and radiation therapy can create problems in moving food down the passageway. Other causes are eosinophilic esophagitis and scleroderma.
Oropharyngeal dysphagia manifests itself in symptoms such as gagging, coughing and choking. Some people feel as if foods are traveling down the trachea. This may be due to muscular dystrophy, Parkinson's disease or multiple sclerosis. A spinal cord injury can cause problems with swallowing. A condition called pharyngeal diverticula happens when a small pouch forms and food particles remain in the throat, rather than continuing into the stomach.
There are several methods to use in diagnosing the location and severity of the condition. The doctor can use a flexible, thin lighted instrument (endoscope) down into your throat so a fiber-optic endoscopic evaluation (FEES) and a visual examination of the esophagus can be made. A manometry procedure require the insertion of a small tube to measure muscle pressure into the esophagus.
Barium is used to define areas of the throat so that images can be made using x-rays or CT scans. Barium can be taken by drinking a solution containing the substance or by swallowing a barium coated pill. X-rays are single images, CT scans take multiple images so that there is a complete cross-sectional image of soft tissues and bones in the throat. MRI technology captures images using magnetic fields and radio waves. A radioactive tracer is used to obtain a positron emission tomography (PET) scan.
The study which checks dynamic swallowing requires the subject to swallow barium coated foods in various consistencies. The images follow the path of the foods as they move through the mouth and down the throat. This set of images will point up issues in the way the muscles work when swallowing happens. The pictures will show instances where the food is traveling into the breathing tube rather than the stomach.
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