What Is Dysphagia?

There are certain things our body does that we totally take for granted. Breathing, for example, or the simple act of swallowing our food. When these simple functions are hindered, the impact on our daily lives, our health, and our wellbeing is astounding. For patients with dysphagia, the process of eating— which we take so much for granted - often becomes one that is complicated, painful, and, in some cases, a source of frustration, anxiety, and severe discomfort.

What Is Dysphagia?

The term “dysphagia” is a medical term used to describe difficulty swallowing. It encompasses both severe and mild swallowing difficulties, and can range in severity from patients who  experience difficulty trying to swallow certain types of foods to patients who are unable to swallow anything at all.

Common symptoms of dysphagia are:

• Pain while swallowing

• Being unable to swallow or experiencing difficulty swallowing

• The sensation of food getting stuck in your throat

• Hoarseness

• Regurgitation

• Frequent heartburn

• Coughing or gagging when swallowing

Dysphagia is common in older adults, but can affect people across all ages, genders, and ethnicities. While occasional swallowing difficulties, such as those you may experience when you try to eat or drink too fast, are totally normal, chronic dysphagia is typically an indicator that something more serious is at work behind the scenes.

What Causes Dysphagia?

The tricky thing about dysphagia is that it can be caused by so many different things, some very simple and others much more severe. One of the most common causes of dysphagia is the narrowing of the esophagus (i.e. esophageal stricture) which results from the chronic acid reflux experienced by patients with GERD. In fact, dysphagia is a common symptom of GERD, with almost ⅔ of patients who have GERD experiencing dysphagia at some level - whether severe or mild. 

In addition to GERD, dysphagia can also be caused by the following:

• A condition that affects the nervous system - i.e. a stroke, head injury, dementia, etc.

• Cancer - such as mouth cancer or esophageal cancer

• Esophageal spasms

• Achalasia 

• Scleroderma 

How do you treat dysphagia?

Dysphagia doesn’t have a one-size-fixes-all solution because treatment depends largely on the cause of your dysphagia and its severity. If your dysphagia is a symptom of GERD, your doctor will recommend treating it differently than they would if it was the result of a disturbance in the brain from a condition like Parkinson’s. 

In general, here are some of the most common ways to treat dysphagia:

• Exercises to help your swallowing muscles

• Alterations to your diet - either transitioning to a softer, more liquid diet or, in very severe cases, alternative forms of feeding such as tube feeding

• Surgery to address the tightness or weakness of your esophageal sphincter - this treatment approach is common in patients whose dysphagia is caused by GERD or Achalasia

• Endoscopy

• Medicines

Dysphagia can be incredibly uncomfortable for those that it impacts, and can negatively affect patients’ lives in a number of ways. If you’re experiencing difficulty swallowing on a consistent basis, your first step should be to sit down with a specialist for testing to determine the source of your dysphagia. Once the cause has been identified, your doctor can go about devising a treatment plan to fit your specific needs and get you back on course!

If you’re in the Tampa Bay area and are looking for someone to help identify the source of your dysphagia and come up with a treatment plan, the experts at Tampa Bay Reflux Center are here to help!