Achalasia Awareness
What is Achalasia?
Achalasia is a rare condition that affects your oesophagus, the tube that carries food from your throat to your stomach.
With achalasia, your lower oesophageal sphincter (LOS) fails to open during swallowing.
Most of the time, this muscular ring remains closed. But, it opens when you swallow so food can pass through. If it doesn’t open, food can back up in your oesophagus.
Achalasia Symptoms
People with achalasia typically experience dysphagia (trouble swallowing). Dysphagia can cause coughing and raises your risk of inhaling and choking on food.
Other possible symptoms include:
- Pain or discomfort in your chest
- Feeling like food is stuck in your throat
- Unexplained weight loss
- Heartburn
- Intense pain or discomfort after eating
- Dry mouth
Diagnosing Achalasia
Achalasia’s rarity can make diagnosis complicated. Some doctors may not immediately recognise the signs.
Signs include:
- Trouble swallowing both solids and liquids, this difficulty worsening over time
- Regurgitation of food
- Heartburn, chest pain, or both (see symptoms)
They may use a few different approaches to help diagnose the condition:
- Endoscopy
- X-ray
- Oesophageal manometry (motility study)
Achalasia Treatment
Achalasia treatment can’t completely cure the condition, but it can help:
- Improve your ability to swallow by opening the LES
- Reduce other symptoms, like pain and regurgitation
- Lower the chances of an abnormally enlarged oesophagus
Possible treatments include:
- Pneumatic dilation
- Botox injections
- Laparoscopic Heller myotomy (LHR)
- Peroral endoscopic myotomy (POEM)
Medications may also help. Though we usually recommend them as a short-term treatment.
Book an appointment
Contact us for further information about achalasia and to book an initial in-person or remote consultation today.
For more achalasia awareness, visit our achalasia page, where we discuss who is more likely to experience achalasia and the risks of leaving achalasia untreated.
Keep learning about swallowing problems by watching the videos on our symptoms playlist.
