Pediatric dysphagia is a disorder that affects young children and infants, making it difficult for them to swallow food properly. Symptoms vary and can lead to malnutrition and respiratory problems. Treatment involves teaching children to eat differently or switching to softer foods.
Dysphagia is the clinical name for any disorder that prevents proper swallowing of food, and pediatric dysphagia is the term used when these disorders affect young children or infants. Disorders that cause dysphagia could theoretically include anything from jaw problems that prevent children from chewing their food to a problem with the reflex that enables swallowing. Pediatric dysphagia can be especially difficult to treat because young children may not understand verbal communication, which can make many therapies impractical.
Symptoms of pediatric dysphagia vary depending on the age of the children involved and the actual cause of the particular case. For example, some babies may constantly choke on food, while others may develop pneumonia when food particles go down the wrong way and land in their lungs. Many children simply show general displeasure when they eat and may even refuse to eat anything. In some cases, problems only occur when children eat solid foods, but they can also occur when they consume liquids, depending on the cause.
When children have pediatric dysphagia, it can often be difficult for parents to know what’s going on. This is partly because young children are generally unable to explain what is happening to them. Many parents may simply think their kids are picky about food and may have no idea why their kids are constantly getting pneumonia or choking.
Pediatric dysphagia can be caused by many different things, some of which are relatively mild, such as pain in the gums, which makes it painful for children to eat. Other causes include things like cleft palate or weak jaw muscles. Some children may have nerve damage that renders their swallowing reflex ineffective, and these cases are often the most likely to cause choking and other serious symptoms.
If left undiagnosed and untreated, pediatric dysphagia can lead to many problems for children. Sometimes children can suffer from malnutrition because they are simply not willing to eat. This can potentially be exacerbated if doctors are unable to determine what is going on. Respiratory problems can also become a very serious problem, also because pneumonia is particularly dangerous for young children.
For many cases of pediatric dysphagia, treatment involves teaching children to eat differently in terms of using their facial and throat muscles. Sometimes this is impossible because children are too young to understand what they want doctors to do. For this reason, initial treatment may simply be to switch to softer foods and then wait until children are older before teaching them compensation methods.
Protect your devices with Threat Protection by NordVPN
