Dysphagia questions...?

OK, so, I'm 14 and I've had this problem since December 9, 2006. Over a year. Some things I can swallow. somethings its real difficult. I have had braces since November 30, very close to that date. I remember December 9th because the space shuttle took off at night and i was excited... Well, I havent had this issue before and I was eating pizza, and I couldnt get it to go down. Then it happened with everything, even liquids. Sometimes I can swallow better than other times, its just random. But Im sick of throwing my lunch away because I can't eat it. My moms an RN and she said I would have to see a GI about it. Something about a scope and/or a barium swallow? How thick is liquid barium? Also, if anyone has ever had dysphagia please let me know! How do you cope with it? What it feels like for me is that swallowing takes 2 motions... one to get it into the back of my mouth, the another to swallow. sometimes getting it to actually "swallow" or go down is real tough.can anyone help please

I'm a Speech-Language Pathologist. I work in a medical rehabilitation center. I treat people with dysphagia every day. Most of these people have dysphagia due to a neurological impairment...strokes, parkinson's disease, etc.. Dysphagia is really a generic term for difficulty chewing and/or swallowing. I have seen an unbelievable variety of causes for dysphagia. The braces are probably causing the problem. Swallowing is a very complex activity that requires an incredible amount of coordination on the part of the brain. I've seen people have dysphagia because of dentures not fitting correctly. This is sometimes caused by oral hypersensitivity. Do you gag easily? Sometimes dysphagia can be psychogenic, meaning that it is caused by anxiety or other cause that is not physiological.

A modified barium swallow, not to be confused with a barium swallow, is a very simple procedure. An MBS evaluates the swallowing process from the mouth through the throat. A Barium Swallow, on the other hand, evaluates the digestive tract starting with the esophagus and then down. In a Barium swallow you drink a large amount of barium. In an MBS a radiologist along with a speech-language pathologist will conduct the swallow study. The therapist will mix a small amount of barium paste with various consistencies of food (water, graham cracker or cookie, apple sauce, etc.) and you will be asked to chew and swallow it while being x-rayed seated in an up right position. They will be able to see where exactly the issue with your swallowing is occurring. This usually provides good information for the therapist and your physician to make treatment decisions. To be honest I don't know that it will be useful in your case. You appear to have difficulty initiating your swallow and coordinating the movement and transition of the food you are chewing to the back of your mouth. This will be reflected in the study, but it probably won't provide any useful data to as why it is happening.

The part of your brain that controls your oral preparation of food, the movement of it to the back of your throat and the eventual trigger of your swallow requires a tremendous amount of sensory data from the nerve endings in your mouth as well as coordination of the motor movements to produce a strong and efficient swallow. I think the introduction of the braces is probably interfering with your brains ability to coordinate these movements due to distorted oral sensory feedback. Talk to your doctor and your orthodontist about it. Maybe there is an alternative to the braces or an adjustment to their overall fit that can be attempted. You can also try some oral stimulation....use a toothbrush and scrub the inside surfaces of you gums, tongue, palate, etc before each meal to highten your oral sensations. Your doctor may refer you to an otolaryngologist or ENT to investigate further.

I have found that often there are other symptoms associated with the cause of the difficulty that the patient just doesn't see the connection so they don't mention it. After talking with the patient and asking a few questions I can sometimes begin to put the pieces together and figure out whats going on.

Good Luck

Many things can cause this. Since you are young, most of them are probably not cancer. Gastroesophageal reflux can cause these symptoms with swelling at the epiglottis and base of the tongue. Esophageal strictures (tight spots in the esophagus) can cause it too. An ENT can see the first problem in the office while a barium swallow will see the second. Barium is thick and chalky and may not taste too good depending on the brand.

I am almost 40, and I have a similar problem that happens occasionally - I will be eating and something gets stuck in my throat . I can talk and breathe but cant drink anything to wash it down. I started this about 5 years ago., when I was eating chicken. It took me an hour to get the stupid piece of chicken out of my throat. This happened to me Sunday - I didn't chew my bite of steak properly, and it didn't go down. It took me 16 hours to get it clear this time! It usually only takes me anywhere from 15 minutes to 2 hours. I am going to check with a doctor about this for sure. Someone told me it could potentially be life threatening if allowed to go unchecked.