At Nebraska Medicine, we have multiple experts who handle swallowing problems, including voice box specialists called laryngologists, doctors who focus on the abdominal area and how your body processes food, nutritionists and other kinds of specialists.
Come to Nebraska Medicine for Help Swallowing
The list of potential causes for swallowing difficulties is long.
- Chronic chest pain, heartburn or regurgitation
- Trouble swallowing, whether it's food getting stuck, pain, tightness, weakness, or feeling like you have a lump in your throat
- Achalasia - a disorder that keeps food from passing correctly into the stomach
- Issues with the lining of the esophagus - Barrett's esophagus
- Lesions or masses on the esophagus; if it's cancerous, we also have specialists who handle cancer of the esophagus
- Issues after surgery with the esophagus
- Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), which occurs when the acid in your stomach backflows into your esophagus. Normally, there is a valve at the entrance of your stomach that helps prevent this from happening. Because there are a variety of causes for GERD, an evaluation by a specialist is important to effectively treat your specific condition
- Laryngopharyngeal reflux disease, which is closely associated with GERD
- A chronic allergic inflammatory disease of the esophagus called Eosinophilic Esophagitis or EoE. The main symptom of EoE is difficulty swallowing solid food, and the food gets lodged in the esophagus after it is swallowed. In children, the most common symptoms are abdominal pain, nausea, vomiting and coughing. EoE is commonly caused by a food allergy or an environmental allergy
How We Treat Swallowing Problems
- Medications to treat indigestion
- Swallowing therapy
- Helping you alter your diet effectively
- Botox injections placed in the muscles of your throat
- Radiofrequency ablation
- A surgery called laparoscopic fundoplication, to prevent stomach contents from going back into the esophagus. It is generally performed with paraesophageal hernia repair
Accreditations and Awards
Highly Ranked Care
Nebraska Medicine is ranked among the nation’s best. Each year, U.S. News & World Report surveys the nation’s roughly 5,000 hospitals to come up with the year’s list of Best Hospitals.
Just 3 percent of the hospitals analyzed for Best Hospitals earn national ranking in even one specialty. We were ranked nationally in ENT in the 2017 U.S. News & World Report Best Hospitals ranking and recognized as a high-performing hospital in ENT in the 2011, 2012, 2013 and 2014.