Dysphagia is a term used to refer to feeling difficulty in passing food or even liquid from our mouth through to the mouth to stomach. Swallowing disorders are common to every age group but especially the elderly. These problems are caused by mainly temporal factors that are not threatening. They rarely represent serious diseases for example tumor. One should let these disorders to clear by themselves failure to which he or she should see a doctor.

We normally swallow countless times in a day that includes saliva and mucus that our bodies normally produce. The first stage during swallowing is chewing known as oral preparation stage. Food or liquid is then pushed by the tongue to the back of the mouth known as oral stage. After this foods and liquids will pass through pharynx and the hence the name pharyngeal stage. Esophagus stage is the last stage the passage of food liquid through our esophagus happens.

Some only has voluntary control of the first and second stage. The other two happens without cognizant input. Someone of the symptom of these problems include; feeling that foods and liquids are sticking in the throat, discomfort in throat, chocking as foodstuff refuse to pass easily and therefore sucked into lungs, change of voice and drooling.

When these disorders persist, they are not temporal and therefore the mouth and throat needs to be examined by a doctor. This is done using mirrors. Sometimes someone is inserted a small tube in the nose and the patient eats food when the scope is on the throat. These procedures provide the visual images of the back of our tongue.

Many of these disorders are treated with the aid of medicine. Drugs that will slow production of acid in the stomach, relaxants, and also antacids can help to deal with the situation. The treatment of each disorder is tailored to its type. Gastro esophageal reflux is treated by changing eating habits such as; elimination of tobacco and alcohol, reduction of weight and stress and eating a balanced diet. If they do not help, it is recommended to take antacids between meals.

Swallowing problems can be treated by medication, surgery or swallowing therapy. The therapy includes special exercises of stimulating nerves which cause the swallow reflex. Also a person can be shown how to place food in the throat or the position of the body of a person and the head when eating.

Surgery can be used to treat certain problems. The throat may need to be stretched. For a tight muscle, it might need to be released surgically or dilated. Many diseases can contribute to swallowing problems. In case the problem persists, he or she is advised to see a neck surgeon.

Finally, difficulties will arise if our process of swallowing is disrupted. We can help to avoid it by eating slowly and also thorough chewing. It is however the case since the problems can arise from many causes including poor teeth. The most common though is when stomach acid move to our pharynx.