Treatments

Dysphagia Treatments

Your treatment will depend on the cause of your dysphagia and the severity of the condition. Options include:

• Pneumatic (balloon) dilation: Using an endoscope, a special balloon is passed through the mouth and into the esophagus, where it is inflated to stretch the restrictive muscles.
• Bougie: Your physician can insert increasingly larger bougies, or weighted tubes, to dilate the narrowed area.
• Surgery: Surgery may be recommended to remove obstructions or address motility disorders.
• Therapy: A speech-language pathologist can evaluate your swallowing ability, teach you swallowing exercises and evaluate your risk of aspiration pneumonia.
• Dietary changes: You may be instructed to follow a dysphagia diet.
• Feeding tube: In severe cases, a feeding tube may be needed to ensure you’re receiving adequate nutrition.