My breath smells rotten, I have difficulty swallowing and I feel stuck. It turns out to be esophageal diverticulosis (picture and text for lazy people)
“Mom, my grandfather smells so bad when he talks. I feel terrible. Doesn’t he even brush his teeth?”
Mom interrupted Pinyu’s childlike words and said, “You can’t say that to grandpa. Grandpa can’t even eat well now. He’s getting thinner and thinner. Mom and dad are very worried.”
“Then why don’t you take grandpa to see a doctor quickly? Otherwise, his mouth will be so bad that I really don’t dare to talk to him.”
Esophageal diverticulosis
We all know the journey of food. After the food is chewed through the mouth and enters the throat, normal swallowing function will cause the epiglottic cartilage to cover the trachea, allowing the food to smoothly enter the esophagus, and then pass all the way through the stomach, small intestine, and large intestine.
However, if the cricopharyngeal muscle in the throat is weak, it may protrude outward and backward to form an extra small space, which is called a diverticulum. The cricopharyngeal muscle is located above the esophagus and allows food to pass when relaxed. When not swallowing, the cricopharyngeal muscle contracts and tenses to prevent saliva from flowing downward. When swallowing, the muscles in the oropharynx will contract forcefully to push food downwards against the cricopharyngeal muscle. If the cricopharyngeal muscle does not relax properly to allow food to pass, the pressure will cause the cricopharyngeal muscle to protrude backward. Becomes a diverticulum behind the esophagus.
Symptoms caused by esophageal diverticulosis
At this time, the food may go astray. After entering the throat, it does not go all the way down the esophagus to the gastrointestinal tract, but gets stuck in the small space at the back of the throat. This space is a blind end, which means that the food has no way to go. But go, just stuck here. However, this extra small space cannot digest food, and the food will rot in the diverticulum. Therefore, the patient’s breath will become very bad, and there will be a rancid bad smell in the mouth, and these odors are not rinsed with water. Brushing teeth or taking hemorrhoid pills cannot solve the problem.
The larger the cavity, the more food is stuck, and the easier it is to press forward into the space passage of the esophagus, so it is likely to cause difficulty in swallowing. Swallowing things always feel stuck and cannot go down smoothly, and it is even easier to choke, or Food is thrown back into the mouth after swallowing.
Even if a patient has bad breath or often has difficulty swallowing, it may not necessarily be found to be caused by esophageal diverticulosis. Sometimes patients develop complications, such as weight loss and malnutrition, often due to difficulty eating, or aspiration pneumonia due to dysphagia, before further testing is performed.
Who is prone to esophageal diverticulum?
- Elderly people, most patients with esophageal diverticulosis are over 70 years old.
- Male patients are more likely to have esophageal diverticulosis
- Have dysphagia
How to deal with esophageal diverticulosis?
When doctors suspect that a patient has esophageal diverticulosis, they can perform a gastrointestinal endoscopy or esophagography to confirm the diagnosis. Since esophageal diverticulum is a structural problem, if it has caused difficulty in swallowing, malnutrition, and repeated episodes of aspiration pneumonia, surgery should be considered to improve it.
Before surgery, remember to take small bites when eating. Do not eat a large mouthful of food at one time. This will put too much pressure on the cricopharyngeal muscle and make it easy to protrude backward. Each bite should be fully chewed in the mouth. Occasionally drink small sips of boiled water between meals to help swallow more smoothly. In addition, it is recommended that people suffering from esophageal diverticula should not eat nuts, seeds, or peeled apples, tomatoes and other foods. These foods can easily stay in the diverticulum and are best avoided.
Summary of Esophageal Diverticulosis
Esophageal diverticulosis is an extra cavity at the back of the throat that makes it difficult to swallow and prevents food from entering the gastrointestinal tract. When the elderly have bad breath, difficulty swallowing and are prone to choking, aspiration pneumonia, or have lost weight and become malnourished, it is best to ask a doctor to diagnose and treat esophageal diverticula.
[Thisarticleisreprintedwithpermissionfrom”CareOnline”originalsource:There is a rotten smell in the mouth and it is difficult to swallow. It turns out to be “esophageal diverticulum” (picture and text for lazy people)】
2024-04-13 10:30:00
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