Difficulty Swallowing Specific Foods

Anonymous






Posted: Wed Feb 24, 2010 7:16 am Post subject: Throat and hot soup

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Kindly explain why parkinson's irritated with hot soup?

It takes times to take the hot soup and find uncomfortable in the throat.

Back to top


lmahler



Joined: 02 Apr 2007
Posts: 1

Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 8:04 am Post subject: Difficulty Swallowing Specific Foods

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

It sounds like you are describing a swallowing problem that occurs wwith a specific food type - in this case hot soup. Each individual with PD has unique swallowing difficulties so it is not possible for me to know exactly why hot soup irritates your throat but I can discuss possible causes.

The first obvious cause is that your soup is too hot and you need to give it time to cool down. Other reasons would relate to the consistency of the soup and the ingredients in the soup. Sometimes foods of mixed consistency can be more challenging to swallow safely. A thin broth with with chunky vegetables, for example, could be difficut for some people. Also, if the soup has spicy ingredients that could be irritating your throat.

Many people with PD have reflux. It is possible to have reflux and not be aware of the symptoms because they can be subtle. For example, frequent throat clearing can be a symptom of reflux as can decreased voice quality especially in the morning after lying down to sleep. It may be that you have reflux and the soup acts as an irritant.

To learn more about whether you have reflux, you should consult with your physician. An ear, nose and throat doctor can look at your vocal folds and determine whether there are signs of reflux. The treatment of reflux is typically a combination of medication and behavioral modifications.

I hope this information gives you some ideas about what might be going on with you individually. A speech-language pathologist is trained to evaluate swallowing. Your physician can give you a referral if you think this would be appropriate for you.

Thank you for writing.

Leslie Mahler, PhD, CCC-SLP
_________________
Leslie Mahler, PhD, CCC-SLP
Assistant Professor
University of Rhode Island