Dysphagia
Dysphagia means difficulty with swallowing. While in the adult there are many causes including difficulties with nerves and muscles (see throat disorders in the adult head section) in the child and the adolescent the most common cause is painful inflammatory conditions affecting the tonsils or the whole of the pharynx itself. Anti inflammatory agents and gargles may help, and if there is a bacterial infection antibiotics will be helpful (since most cases are due to viruses, antibiotics will not be helpful).
In the newborn infant, there may be a congenital abnormality producing a communication between the windpipe (the trachea) and the oesophagus - the tube down which food passes from the mouth to the stomach, called a tracheo-oesophageal fistula. This produces difficulties with feeding with bouts of coughing and chest infections - see the chest section.
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