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Who helps with swallowing
Several kinds of professionals help. Here is who does what.
Awaiting clinical review. This page is written from general, widely accepted background on how eating and swallowing work. It has not yet been signed off by a named clinician, and it is not a substitute for asking one.
Start with your primary care doctor
Your regular doctor is a good first stop. They know your health and your medicines.
They can refer you to the right specialist.
Who does what
Each person looks at a different part of the picture.
- Speech-language pathologist (SLP): how you chew and swallow. They can watch your swallow on a special X-ray or with a small camera, and teach you ways to swallow.
- Ear, nose and throat doctor (ENT): your mouth, throat and voice box. They may look with a thin scope.
- GI doctor (gastroenterologist): your food pipe and stomach. They may use a camera test to look inside the food pipe.
- Dentist: teeth, gums, dentures and dry mouth.
- Pharmacist: your pills. Whether they can be crushed or split, other forms, and side effects like dry mouth.
What to bring
A Food Feel Profile or a few weeks of meal logs can help you remember.
- Which foods, drinks or pills are hard.
- Where you feel it: mouth, throat or chest.
- When you feel it: during the swallow, or later.
- A list of your medicines and supplements.
When this is worth asking about
- Food or drink is stuck and will not go down, or you cannot breathe. Call 911.
- Swallowing hurts.
- You are losing weight without trying.
- You keep getting chest infections or pneumonia.
- It is getting harder over weeks or months.
