Throat Doctor Diagnostics
When your throat is sore, swollen, or has other persistent issues, you just want the pain and discomfort to go away. While you can self-diagnose all you want, you won’t be able to reach a solution until you have a professional take a look and go over the issues you are having. There are disorders that can affect your ability to speak or swallow properly and they can be very painful at the same time. Instead of hoping the ailment will go away, visit a throat doctor for proper diagnostics.
Factors That Affect Throat Conditions
There are plenty of things that come together to affect what happens in your throat. There are also variables that relate to treatment. Your throat doctor will look over things like your age, medications you might be on, the severity of the symptoms, the cause of the ailment, and many other things. It’s somewhat like a giant puzzle and the throat doctor needs all of the pieces to get a clear picture of what needs to be done moving forward. Be upfront and honest about all of the factors that are affecting your condition so your doctor can get the diagnosis correct right away and offer the proper treatment.
Throat Conditions
There are a variety of different throat conditions that you could be dealing with. Here are a few you might hear the throat doctor mention:
Aspiration
This is a medical term for when your food or liquid is inhaled through the vocal cords and into the airway. Instead of swallowing food through the right pipe and into the stomach, it goes through your vocal cords. It can be dangerous and even painful when it occurs.
Dysphagia
This condition means you can’t swallow very well and there are many factors that can cause it. Most conditions are temporary and not life threatening, but it’s best to get advice from the throat doctor either way.
LPR and GERD
When acid reflux occurs form the stomach up into the esophagus, GERD or gastroesophageal reflux disease occurs. If that acid travels all the way up into the throat, it’s LPR or laryngopharyngeal reflux. Both can feel like a burning and be very uncomfortable.
It’s All Connected
When you visit a throat doctor, you may find them asking questions about your nose or ears as well and that’s because everything in the ear, nose, and throat region is all connected. You might have throat issues from a problem that stems from your nose. Throat doctors are specialists that also rely on ear and nose regions to help diagnose issues within the throat area.
Treatments From Throat Doctors
When you visit a throat doctor, they will get to the bottom of your throat issue and will give you a treatment plan option. The most common cause of irregularities in the throat are the tonsils, which can become inflamed and infected. Those can be removed in a routine procedure, but they aren’t the only cause of throat problems. Visit with the specialists at Breathe Clear Institute during your consultation and exam to get the right diagnosis and treatment plan for your specific throat ailment.