How Is Dysphagia Diagnosed?

 

Diagnosing dysphagia can be a little difficult and lengthy process. After all, the condition can be associated with anything and everything related to your gastrointestinal health.

Thus, at the beginning, your physician will ask you about your medical history and if you’ve experienced the same before or not. If this is something happening with you for the very first time, the doctor will perform a thorough physical examination, then.

And, once they’re done, they may also ask you to perform various tests. These will help them in pinpointing the problem and why it’s being caused.

Tests Required To Diagnose Dysphagia

Before your physician asks you to go through the tests, they’ll ask you a few more queries. It may include the following –

• Whether you have lost weight recently or not.
• How long you’ve been seeing the symptoms of dysphagia.
• Whether the condition has affected the way you work or not.
• If your symptoms have been constant or are at a “coming and going” phase.

Once the initial assessment is done, your doctor will ask you to undergo the following tests.

1. Swallow Test.

It’s usually carried out by an SLT (Speech and Language Therapist) and can provide a decent initial assessment of what’s wrong. Here’s how the evaluation might go –

• The SLT will request you to swallow a small amount of water at the beginning.
• They will check the time you are taking to drink the water and the required number of swallows.

You may also be asked to chew a soft fruit or pudding during the procedure. While you are at it, the SLT will check how well your tongue, lips, and the throat muscles are working.

2. Nasoendoscopy.

A Nasoendoscopy is a type of medical procedure, which will help the doctor assess your nose and the upper airways. In this process, a thin, flexible tube with a camera and a light will be inserted through your nose. It’ll help the doctor look down into your esophagus and check for blockages. In some cases, a local anesthetic is also given into your nose.

In any case, the process is pretty much harmless and doesn’t cause too much pain at all. And, as the tube won’t enter too deep, it won’t cause retching or anything.

3. Diagnostic Gastroscopy.

Otherwise known as diagnostic endoscopy, this procedure is all about checking the condition of your throat, esophagus, and stomach. In this process –

• Your doctor will pass down a thin tube (endoscope) through your throat and check if it can detect any scar tissue or not.
• The evaluation can help your doctor find out if there’s some sort of cancerous growth in your stomach or the related organs.

4. Barium X-Ray.

A modernized version of the traditional x-ray, this procedure will require you to drink a little bit of barium at the beginning. Once you’re done, the doctor will start the x-ray process.

The liquid will coat through your esophagus. So, it’ll be easier for them to see the condition of the organ and assess the muscular activities through the same.

Sometimes, your healthcare provider might also ask you to swallow solid food to check how you are doing. If you have pill dysphagia, your throat muscles won’t work as needed.

5. Manometry Or Esophageal Muscle Test.

In this process, the physician will insert a small tube through your esophagus by connecting it to a pressure recorder. This, in turn, will help them measure the muscle contractions of your organ while you are swallowing something.

If there’s some sort of bump or anything available, the tube will easily detect the same and let your doctor know about it. The process can be a little lengthy and may cause a little pain and heaviness in your chest. However, the feeling won’t stay for long.

The Final Say

Although it may seem like nothing at the beginning, dysphagia can get quite stressful after a while. Therefore, it might be better for you to go for a checkup before it gets worse. I hope, now, you know what kind of diagnostic procedures you’ll need to go through in this aspect.

So, it might be better to prepare yourself for the same. And, try your best to answer whatever your doctor asks you correctly. Or else, they might not be able to diagnose you properly.