Dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, can be a serious disorder. People with dysphagia may be completely unable to swallow at all while some experience pain upon swallowing. Some people have trouble swallowing food or liquid while others may be totally unable to swallow. People with dysphagia may have a problem consuming enough calories and may lose dangerous amounts of weight. Therefore, dysphagia should be addressed as soon as possible to prevent malnutrition or other serious threats to a person's health.
What Causes Dysphagia?
There are a number of causes of dysphagia. The most common cause is stroke or other head injury, but dysphagia can occur with some illnesses, such as Parkinson's or cerebral palsy, with an infection or irritation that can cause swelling of the esophagus, or it may occur as a result of a birth defect, such as cleft palate. Some cancer treatments may affect the ability to swallow as well.
What Are The Treatments?
Dysphagia is treated according to its underlying cause. To know what the real cause is, a doctor will make use of different kinds of methods like medication or surgery. If employing these methods cannot present any plausible results, the doctor may recommend a consultation with a speech-language therapist, even if the sufferer can verbally communicate with perfect ease. After more tests, the therapist will envisage a plan for the treatment, depending upon the particular impairment of the patient.
A speech therapist will look for weak muscles in the mouth, throat, or tongue and address any coordination issues that appear to affect the swallowing mechanism. The therapist may use exercises to strengthen the swallowing muscles or teach the patient new ways to swallow.
Why Not Just Leave It Alone?
Serious issues can arise if dysphagia is not treated promptly. Apart from the inability to maintain a healthy weight, patients with dysphagia may also get food or liquid trapped in the pharynx, or windpipe, where bacteria can grow and cause pneumonia. Other times, the weakened esophagus may develop a pocket that traps food and prohibits the passage of other food or liquid. The trapped food may then slip into the pharynx during sleep and cause infection.
Under the circumstances it is totally necessary to treat the condition immediately so that the patient can find relief without much difficulty.
Author Resource:
You can receive excellent Colorado Speech Therapy from Karen Barta. She provides speech therapy articulation in addition to working with people of all ages - from young to seniors.
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