Ask a doctor - What is dysphagia?

Q. What is dysphagia?

Doctor Answer is medically reviewed by SecondMedic medical review team.

Answered by Secondmedic Expert

Dysphagia is a medical term used to describe difficulty in swallowing. It can occur due to physical and/or neurological disorders, or it may be caused by certain medical treatments such as radiation therapy and chemotherapy. Dysphagia can also result from some congenital conditions or anatomical abnormalities of the throat.

Physically, dysphagia is defined by difficulty initiating a swallow, prolonged time spent swallowing (dislocation), pain during the process of swallowing (odynophagia) and feeling that food has become stuck somewhere in the throat or chest (trismus). The individual may also experience difficulty controlling saliva production (sialorrhea) and coughing when eating or drinking liquids. Neurologically, dysphagia may occur regardless of an individual’s ability to chew their food, due to difficulties regulating the muscles responsible for pushing food through the esophagus into the stomach.

An individual with dysphagia often experiences changes in appetite and weight loss — this is because they are unable to consume enough foods or beverages needed for proper nutrition; aspiration pneumonia may develop as well if food particles enter into their lungs while attempting to swallow due to weakened airway protective reflexes associated with disability impairments. Consequently, individuals with dysphagia should promptly seek out medical care so that an accurate diagnosis can be made along with potential treatment(s) options available; which could involve speech-language pathology help where appropriate exercises are provided along with dietary modifications necessary for better consumption of specific types of food items depending on severity level present within each case situation .