Odynophagia: Causes, Symptoms, Daignosis, Prevention and Treatment

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Odynophagia
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Odynophagia

• Odynophagia is a condition in which the affected
  person experiences extreme pain at the time of
  swallowing the food, liquids and medication
  pills.This causes the food to take a lot of
  time to reach the stomach from the esophagus
  resulting in a stabbing pain in the
  chest.Odynophagia can be confused with different
  condition called dysphagia but these two
  conditions are different in that.Odynophagia
  causes pain with swallowing whereas in dysphagia
  the individual has difficulty in swallowing food
  altogether even though these two conditions can
  occur at the same time.The pain caused because
  of odynophagia can be from the mouth, esophagus,
  or throat. Odynophagia is a condition which can
  occur in anyone irrespective of the age or
  gender.

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Diagnosis of Odynophagia

• If there is no obvious cause known for the
  odynophagia, then the doctor may need to conduct
  some studies to find out the cause of
  Odynophagia.In cases of reflux, if the
  individual starts experiencing pain with eating
  then the possibility of cancer needs to be
  investigated especially if there is unintentional
  weight loss also reported.If the food
  regurgitates from the esophagus and causes
  odynophagia, then this also may be a possibility
  of cancer. The main test to find out a definitive
  cause for odynophagia is an endoscopy.Barium
  swallow study can also be done but it is rarely
  used these days. In case if endoscopy, it does
  not show a definite cause then manometry studies
  may have to be done to find out a confirmatory
  cause for odynophagia.

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Symptoms of Odynophagia

• Dysphagia is one symptom that most often goes
  hand in hand with Odynophagia. The individual may
  also complain of pain in the mouth which
  intensifies when the individual is
  swallowing.If an individual has odynophagia on
  eating hot food or drinks and if it is present
  more in the mornings, it could be related to
  GERD.Sometimes odynophagia may be accompanied
  by severe shortness of breath or dysphonia
  indicating a problem with the larynx or the voice
  box or some sort of obstruction of the throat.

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How is Odynophagia Treated?

• It is quite obvious that the treatment for
  odynophagia depends on what is actually causing
  the condition. Some methods used for treating
  odynophagia are
• In case of ulcers causing odynophagia, they can
  be surgically removed
• If cancer is the cause of odynophagia, then
  further more aggressive treatment will be
  required including radiation and chemotherapy
• For infectious causes of odynophagia, antibiotics
  and decongestants may suffice for treatment of
  odynophagia
• Antacids like omeprazole can be used for
  individuals who have odynophagia which is caused
  due to gastroesophageal reflux disease and you
  may need to avoid caffeine, alcohol, and spicy
  food for some time as it may aggravate the reflux
  symptoms resulting in aggravation of odynophagia

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