|
DESCRIPTION:
Swallowing is a very complex process that involves the mouth, throat and esophagus. Many nerves and muscles affect the correct functioning of these parts, and while part of the process of swallowing is under voluntary control, much of it is involuntary. Swallowing difficulty, also called dysphagia, involves the sensation that food is stuck in the throat or upper chest. This sensation may be perceived either high in the neck or lower down, behind the sternum, or breastbone. Swallowing difficulty can become a serious problem among the elderly, and between 20 to 40 percent of stroke patients suffer from swallowing difficulty.
How does swallowing difficulty develop?
Problems with swallowing can originate at any point—from chewing food and moving it into the back of the mouth to moving the food into the stomach—and can involve either the upper areas of the mouth and the pharynx or the esophagus. Causes include emotional or anxiety disorder, tumor, stroke, spasms, a structural problem, a diverticulum or outpouching in the throat, an obstruction or a disease such a Parkinson’s, Huntington’s or multiple sclerosis, among others. However, swallowing difficulty is most commonly due to an autonomic nervous system dysfunction that may be caused by Barré-Lieou Syndrome, a condition in which the autonomic nervous system of the head and neck area is not working correctly, typically as the result of a ligament injury to the neck, or even heavy metal poisoning, such as mercury poisoning.
What are the symptoms of swallowing difficulty?
Typical symptoms of swallowing difficulty include chest pain, food stuck in the throat, heaviness or pressure in the neck or upper chest and coughing or choking during and/or after eating or drinking. The need to repeat the swallowing movement several times may also be present. Swallowing difficulty may be a constant or an intermittent problem.
Conventional medical treatments may help relieve the symptoms of swallowing difficulty, but they do not address the root of the problem. By strengthening structural weaknesses in the body, as natural medicine treatments like Prolotherapy and Neural Therapy do, swallowing difficulty may be alleviated permanently.
Discover why we believe that natural medicine treatments are the best way to treat swallowing difficulty.
|
|
