Mayo Clinic Health Manager
Get free personalized health guidance for you and your family.
Get Started
About our e-newsletters
- Free e-newsletters
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- We do not share your e-mail address
Housecall, our weekly general-interest e-newsletter, keeps you up to date on a wide variety of health topics with timely, reliable, practical information, recipes, blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts and more. Our biweekly topic-specific e-newsletters also include blogs, questions and answers with Mayo Clinic experts, and other useful information that will help you manage your health.
Housecall Archives
Mayo Clinic Housecall
Stay up to date on the latest health information.
What you get
- Free weekly e-newsletter
- Mayo Clinic expertise
- Recipes, tools and other helpful information
- We do not share your e-mail address
Preparing for your appointment
By Mayo Clinic staffYou're likely to start by first seeing your family doctor or a general practitioner. Depending on the cause, your doctor may then refer you to an ear, nose and throat specialist (otolaryngologist), a doctor who specializes in treating digestive disorders (gastroenterologist) or an expert in diseases of the nervous system (neurologist).
Because appointments can be brief, and there's often a lot of ground to cover, it's a good idea to be well prepared. Here's some information to help you get ready for your appointment, and what to expect from your doctor.
What you can do
- Be aware of any pre-appointment restrictions. At the time you make the appointment, be sure to ask if there's anything you need to do in advance, such as restrict your diet.
- Write down any symptoms you're experiencing, including any that may seem unrelated to the reason for which you scheduled the appointment.
- Write down key personal information, including any major stresses or recent life changes.
- Make a list of all medications, vitamins and supplements that you're taking.
- Write down questions to ask your doctor.
Your time with your doctor is limited, so preparing a list of questions can help you make the most of your time together. List your questions from most important to least important in case time runs out. For difficulty swallowing, some basic questions to ask your doctor include:
- What's the most likely cause of my symptoms?
- Are there other possible causes for my symptoms?
- What kinds of tests do I need? Do these tests require any special preparation?
- Is this condition temporary or long lasting?
- What treatments are available, and which do you recommend?
- What types of side effects can I expect from treatment?
- Are there any alternatives to the primary approach that you're suggesting?
- I have other health conditions. How can I best manage them together?
- Are there any dietary restrictions that I need to follow?
- Are there any brochures or other printed material that I can take home with me? What Web sites do you recommend visiting?
In addition to the questions that you've prepared to ask your doctor, don't hesitate to ask questions during your appointment at any time that you don't understand something.
What to expect from your doctor
Your doctor is likely to ask you a number of questions. Being ready to answer them may reserve time to go over any points you want to spend more time on. Your doctor may ask:
- When did you first begin experiencing symptoms?
- Have your symptoms been continuous or occasional?
- How severe are your symptoms?
- Does anything seem to improve your symptoms?
- What, if anything, appears to worsen your symptoms? For example, are certain foods harder to swallow than others?
- Do you have difficulty swallowing solids, liquids or both?
- Are your symptoms getting worse or becoming more frequent?
- Did your symptoms start with difficulty swallowing solids and then progress to difficulty swallowing liquids?
- Do you have to chew your food more thoroughly now or cut it up into small pieces to eat?
- Have you ever had to bring food back up to relieve your symptoms?
- If you have brought food back up or vomited, have you ever seen blood or black material?
- Have you unintentionally lost weight?
- Do you have any pain?
- How much alcohol do you regularly consume?
- Do you smoke?
What you can do in the meantime
While you're waiting for your appointment, it may help if you chew your food more slowly and thoroughly than you normally do. If heartburn or GERD is part of your problem, try eating smaller meals and don't eat just before going to bed. Over-the-counter antacids also may provide temporary relief.
- Dysphagia. National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/health/voice/dysph.asp. Accessed Aug. 1, 2009.
- Fass R. Approach to the patient with dysphagia. http://www.uptodate.com/index/home.html. Accessed July 30, 2009.
- Dysphagia. The Merck Manuals: The Merck Manual for Healthcare Professionals. http://www.merck.com/mmpe/print/sec02/ch012/ch012b.html. Accessed July 30, 2009.
- Goyal RK. Dysphagia. In: Fauci AS, et al. Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine. 17th ed. New York, N.Y.: McGraw-Hill Medical; 2008. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2888607. Accessed Aug. 3, 2009.
- Feeding and swallowing disorders in children. American Speech-Language-Hearing Association. http://www.asha.org/public/speech/swallowing/FeedSwallowChildren.htm. Accessed Aug. 1, 2009.
- Swallowing trouble. American Academy of Otolaryngology - Head and Neck Surgery. http://www.entnet.org/HealthInformation/swallowingTrouble.cfm. Accessed Aug. 1, 2009.
- Barrett KE. Esophageal Motility. In: Barrett KE. Gastrointestinal Physiology. New York, N.Y.: Lange Medical/McGraw Hill Medical; 2006. http://www.accessmedicine.com/content.aspx?aID=2307248. Accessed Aug. 3, 2009.
- Picco MF (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic, Jacksonville, Fla. Aug. 13, 2009.
