Choking while Eating
Many many months ago I treated a gentleman with acid reflux who simultaneously complained about choking while eating and drinking. I was successful with the acid reflux but not the choking. Later on when I was treating the choking problem the acid reflux somehow came back. He did not return afterwards and I moved on with my other patients.
Recently a new patient came with almost the exact same problem. After these many months my clinical ability has taken on a higher level with the continued training that I am actively pursuing on an on-going basis as part of my professional development. This is a chance for a good comeback and to relearn from this kind of condition.
What is this choking problem? Readers may not realize this but this is potentially a life-threatening condition in my opinion if it is left untreated. The choking problem is basically when a person eats something, be it fluid or actual food, the item does not completely go down the esophagus. It stops half-way along the chest and causes the person to immediately vomit the food back out. It's as if there is something blocking the food from going down. When something is growing in the esophagus, which it shouldn't, the exact same problem occurs, which is why something like this could be potentially sinister. It does not need to be a constant thing, sometimes it can be ok. But generally speaking it will likely progress from mild to severe, where ingestion of food is impossible. A very dangerous situation ensues were it to end up in this stage.
When the patient told me about the problem, I could tell from his pulse that the entire esophagus and chest area must be inflamed and swollen. The swelling should be why the food does not completely go down sometimes. He also says his chest hurts where the food gets stuck half-way. I looked at his tongue and could also tell his gut is very messy.
I don't think this is something fit for acupuncture but I know this is definitely the territory of Chinese Medicine. There is inflamation and swelling and it must be cleared away for this problem to get better. Chinese herbs work super for inflamation.
A week later he came back. I don't ask him anything. I just took his pulse. His pulse wasn't like before, which told me the inflamation and swelling are definitely better. So I told him his problem should be better now. And he confirmed that was the case. Before he was vomiting from the choking one to twice a week, but during the week of my herbs there was none. Unfortunately both he and I would love to continue treatment for his other problems but he had to travel out of province for an extended period of time so we had to terminate at the 2nd visit until he comes back in the future. I told him he needs to pay attention what he is eating otherwise there is a likely chance the problem will come back.
I hope all is well with from this step forward.
*note: this choking condition happens mostly in older males. Even if modern medicine does a throat camera procedure and declares everything fine, it should still be treated, because frankly speaking there is no telling how it would turn out if left unaddressed.