A patient recently told me they’ve been having some problems swallowing lately. What can cause this? Swallowing is a pretty complex body function. It starts in the oral phase, when food is moistened ...

Medically reviewed by Kathleen Daly, MD You can practice progressive muscle relaxation to relieve throat tension and make ...

My stepmother, Sophie Brody, thought she had a tumor. Whenever she ate solid food, it seemed to stick in her chest and not go down. The symptom is called dysphagia, difficulty swallowing, and it is a ...

The 4 stages of dysphagia range from mild to severe, but no single, universally accepted scale exists. Dysphagia refers to difficulty swallowing. It occurs when there is a disruption in one or more ...

An older adult’s swallowing function is associated with lower social interaction levels, a new study finds. People with swallowing problems who lived at home laughed less than those without swallowing ...

Dear Dr. Gott: Here's one that has stumped a GI specialist and an ENT doctor. What do you think? Sometimes, I have a problem swallowing. The food seems to make it about halfway down my esophagus and ...

A patient works on tongue exercises at the UC College of Medicine’s Dysphagia Rehabilitation Laboratory. The majority of stroke survivors — up to three-quarters, according to some studies — experience ...

Heartburn, accompanied by a burning sensation in the chest or throat when swallowing, may be a symptom of gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), a chronic condition in which stomach acid frequently ...