The Response of Modern Medicine
Unless the problem with swallowing is due to a diverticulum or outpouching of the throat that can be surgically treated, modern medical treatment usually cannot determine a cause for swallowing difficulties. Recommendations to relieve the symptoms may include a bland diet, eliminating caffeine or alcohol from the diet, modifying the consistency of foods to make them easier to swallow, elevating the head while sleeping, or therapy to strengthen the swallowing muscles, particularly when the swallowing difficulty seems to be the result of a stroke or a neurological disorder. In certain situations drugs that slow the production of stomach acid, muscle relaxants or antacids may be prescribed.
However, the truth is, a person suffering from this often painful and dehabilitiating condition may be seen by numerous specialists and yet find no resolution for the symptoms and, thus, no understanding as to why the condition exists at all.
The Natural Medicine Approach to Swallowing Difficulty
Natural medicine, on the other hand, offers help, and hope! Rather than simply seek to treat the symptoms, natural medicine seeks to determine the underlying cause of the swallowing difficulty—often a dysfunction of the autonomic nervous system—and apply natural medicine treatments accordingly. To determine the cause, tests would be performed for ligament laxity to determine whether Barré-Lieou Syndrome is at the root of the swallowing difficulty, for heavy metal toxicity to rule out, for example, mercury poisoning, and for food allergies and hormone deficiencies.
Barré-Lieou Syndrome, which can cause swallowing difficulty as well as a host of other symptoms including neck, eye and facial pain, vertigo and ringing in the ears, is very treatable using Prolotherapy to the neck ligaments. Prolotherapy is the safest and most effective natural medicine treatment for repairing ligament damage. It stimulates the body to repair the damaged and weakened areas by inducing a mild inflammatory reaction. Since the body heals by inflammation, Prolotherapy stimulates healing.
As mentioned earlier, swallowing difficulty may also be due to an autonomic nervous system dysfunction. While the actual cause of this dysfunction may be elusive, Neural Therapy to the head and neck area has been known to help with swallowing difficulties. Neural therapy involves the injections of anesthetics to help the nerves reset themselves. For example, if the patient had previously had surgery in the mouth or neck area, the scars would be injected as they can act as “interference fields” to the autonomic nervous system.
If you are interested in more information about our natural medicine treatments, or to schedule an appointment with Dr. Hauser, please contact Caring Medical at 708-848-7789 or online using our contact form.
