{"id":255,"date":"2020-11-10T12:26:38","date_gmt":"2020-11-10T17:26:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ent-docs.fm1.dev\/throat-overview\/swallowing-disorders\/"},"modified":"2021-02-15T19:30:51","modified_gmt":"2021-02-16T00:30:51","slug":"swallowing-disorders","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/ent\/swallowing-disorders\/","title":{"rendered":"Swallowing Disorders"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty swallowing. It is characterized by the sensation of food or liquid getting stuck&nbsp;or&nbsp;slowing down as it moves through&nbsp;the throat&nbsp;and esophagus to the stomach.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">The Swallowing Process&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Few of us give much thought to the act of swallowing, but it\u2019s actually a complex process that involves around 50 pairs of muscles and nerves.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>There are four stages that make up the swallowing process:&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li><em>Stage 1: Oral preparation stage.<\/em><strong>\u202f<\/strong>Food is chewed to prepare for swallowing.\u202f&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Stage 2: Oral stage.<\/em>\u202fThe tongue pushes food or liquid to the back of the mouth.\u202f&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Stage 3: Pharyngeal stage.<\/em><strong>\u202f<\/strong>Food or liquid passes through the pharynx into the esophagus, as voluntary and involuntary muscles in the throat contract and relax in a coordinated fashion.&nbsp;<\/li><li><em>Stage 4: Esophageal stage.<\/em><strong>\u202f<\/strong>Food or liquid passes through the esophagus&nbsp;and enters the stomach.&nbsp;<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Causes\u202fof Swallowing Disorders&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"alignright size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1280\" height=\"854\" src=\"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/521182903-1280x854.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-658\" srcset=\"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/521182903-1280x854.jpg 1280w, https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/521182903-768x513.jpg 768w, https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/521182903-1536x1025.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/11\/521182903.jpg 2048w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1280px) 100vw, 1280px\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>Causes of dysphagia are diverse. It may originate in the esophagus and include diffuse spasm, an improperly relaxed sphincter, weak esophageal muscles, a narrow esophagus, esophageal web,&nbsp;esophageal ring, the presence of foreign bodies, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD),&nbsp;enlargement of the thyroid gland&nbsp;or&nbsp;a hardening of\u202fthe&nbsp;esophageal walls due to a disease&nbsp;called scleroderma.\u202f&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Pharyngeal&nbsp;diverticula (abnormal outpouchings&nbsp;of the throat caused by weakening of the wall of the throat) or cancer can also cause dysphagia.&nbsp;In addition, the muscles and nerves responsible for swallowing can weaken as a result of neurological disorders.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Treatment\u202ffor Swallowing Disorders&nbsp;<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Treatment options for swallowing disorders depend on the underlying cause. Medication, surgery and swallowing therapy are the most common types of\u202ftreatments.&nbsp;&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty swallowing. It is characterized by the sensation of food or liquid getting stuck&nbsp;or&nbsp;slowing down as it moves through&nbsp;the throat&nbsp;and esophagus to the stomach.&nbsp; The Swallowing Process&nbsp; Few of us give much thought to the act of swallowing, but it\u2019s actually a complex process that involves around 50 pairs&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":1226,"menu_order":7,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","schema":"","fname":"","lname":"","position":"","credentials":"","placeID":"","no_match":false,"name":"","company":"","review":"","address":"","city":"","state":"","zip":"","lat":"","lng":"","phone1":"","phone2":"","fax":"","mon1":"","mon2":"","tue1":"","tue2":"","wed1":"","wed2":"","thu1":"","thu2":"","fri1":"","fri2":"","sat1":"","sat2":"","sun1":"","sun2":"","hours-note":"","footnotes":""},"service_tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/255"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/255\/revisions"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/1226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"service_tags","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ent-docs.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/service_tags?post=255"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}