If you have trouble swallowing pills, you’re not alone, and it’s rarely a sign that something is wrong with your throat. For most people it comes down to technique: a pill doesn’t behave like food, and the instinctive way most of us take one (tipping the head back and …
Difficulty swallowing can be a sign of cancer, most often cancer of the esophagus, the top of the stomach, or the throat. It’s the single most important warning symptom for esophageal cancer, which is why doctors take it seriously and usually arrange a camera test quickly. But most people …
Dysphagia is the medical term for difficulty swallowing. It means food, drink or pills don’t pass smoothly from your mouth to your stomach. You might cough or choke as you swallow, feel something sticking in your throat or chest, or need several swallows to get one mouthful down. It’s …
Trapped gas in the chest usually feels like pressure, fullness or a sharp, shifting pain behind the breastbone or under the ribs. It tends to ease when you burp, pass gas or change position. The quickest ways to release it are to get moving (a 10–15 minute walk), try …
If you’ve never been able to burp — not once, not properly, for as long as you can remember — the condition you’re describing has a name: retrograde cricopharyngeus dysfunction, or R-CPD. You’ll also see it called “no burp syndrome” or “inability to belch syndrome.” It happens when the …
If you’re standing in the pharmacy aisle trying to choose between Pepto-Bismol and Mylanta, here’s the answer up front: for heartburn and acid reflux, Mylanta is the better pick. It’s a true antacid — aluminum hydroxide and magnesium hydroxide that chemically neutralize stomach acid within minutes. Pepto-Bismol isn’t really …