Dysphagia is the medical term when someone has difficulty swallowing. While some may struggle to swallow specific foods or drinks, others are completely unable to swallow. This makes eating challenging. Additionally, it might be challenging to consume enough calories and fluids to maintain your body’s needs.
Anyone can have a swallowing difficulty, although elderly individuals are more likely to develop one. Swallowing problems are frequently a symptom of various underlying diseases. GERD, stroke, head or spinal cord damage, and cancer of the head, neck, or esophagus are a few of these. Other conditions include those of the nervous system, such as Parkinson’s disease and cerebral palsy.
What You’ll Learn
- Introduction to swallowing disorders
- Dysphagia
- What is dysphagia?
- Types of dysphagia
- Problems associated with dysphagia
- Diagnoses and tests for dysphagia
- Getting help for dysphagia
Details
Course length: 30 minutes; CEU: 0.5
Languages: American English
Key features: Audio narration, learning activity, and post-assessment.
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How Do We Swallow?
The act of swallowing is complicated. To receive food into the mouth, prepare it, and transfer it from the mouth to the stomach, about fifty pairs of muscles and numerous nerves are involved. Furthermore, there are three complex stages of digestion that allows for food and beverages to pass through the body.
How Does Dysphagia Occur?
Any issue with the brain control or the structures involved in any step of the swallowing process results in dysphagia. Moving food around the mouth for chewing may also be difficult if the tongue or cheek muscles are weak. However, a stroke or other neurological condition may make it challenging to trigger the swallowing reflex, a stimulation that enables food and liquids to pass safely through the throat.
Symptoms of Dysphagia
Signs and symptoms associated with dysphagia can include: pain while swallowing, inability to swallow, drooling, hoarseness, regurgitation, weight loss, frequent heart burn, among others. You should see a doctor if life threatening symptoms occur, like rapid weight loss or vomiting along with your swallowing difficulties.
Additionally, any condition that weakens or damages the muscles and nerves used for swallowing or leads to a narrowing of the back of the throat or esophagus can cause dysphagia. Any swallowing disorder usually falls into one of two categories. It will either be a form of esophageal or oropharyngeal dysphagia.
Treatment of Dysphagia
Different methods can be used to treat various forms of dysphagia. Medical practitioners and speech-language pathologists use a variety of tests that enable them to look at the stages of the swallowing process for evaluating and treating swallowing problems. Flexible Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing with Sensory Testing (FEESST) will be used initially by HCP. Then VFSS, or videofluoroscopic swallow study. Alternatively, adjustments could be made to the size, texture, or posture of the meal, as well as through behavioral techniques like “chin tucking,” which is a technique used to prevent food and other substances from entering the trachea when swallowed.
