June is National Dysphagia Awareness Month
What is Dysphagia?
Difficulty swallowing, also called Dysphagia, affects 1 out of every 25 Americans each year according to the American Board of Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders. Dr. Alicia Sanderson of CMC Ear, Nose & Throat shares that “Globus” is the sensation something is stuck in the throat and this may or may not be associated with difficulty swallowing.
What causes Dysphagia?
Dysphagia can happen from the mouth to the stomach and there can be many different causes. Trouble swallowing in the mouth can be due to infection, tonsillitis, or poor coordination of the tongue muscles, according to Dr. Sanderson. Dysphagia of the throat can be caused by foreign bodies, cancer of the throat/tongue, infection, reflux and thyroid cancers.
Dysphagia of the esophagus can be due to thickened muscles, weakness and pouching of the muscle wall, strictures or narrowing, cancer, poor coordination of the muscles and hiatal hernias.
Meghan Schaufele, CMC Speech-Language Pathologist shares “There are also many other reasons for dysphagia. There can be neurological causes such as stroke, brain injury, and neurodegenerative diseases that may include Parkinson’s disease, ALS, MS, and dementia. Additional causes of swallowing problems can be trauma to swallowing mechanism, including radiation therapy, or respiratory problems such as COPD.”
How to treat Dysphagia
Dr. Sanderson urges “if you are experiencing dysphagia, see your health care provider. Based on your symptoms and physical exam findings, they may want to do additional studies or refer you to a specialist such as an ENT, Gastroenterologist, Neurologist, or speech therapist.”
Additional studies may include, esophagram, laryngoscopy, modified barium swallow studies, ultrasounds, CT scan or motility studies.
