Symptoms of Esophageal Spasms
Symptoms can be constant or come and go. The main sign of esophageal spasms is chest pain and difficulty in swallowing, and it sometimes includes the following.
- A severe spasm that feels like a heart attack and could wake you from sleep.
- Feeling like something is stuck in your throat.
- Heartburn [8]
- Regurgitation of food or drinks back into your mouth.
- Squeezing pain in your chest.
Some of these symptoms may also rule out other health conditions with similar symptoms, making diagnostic tests compulsory for esophageal spasms. Some include; Endoscopy (this allows doctors to view inside your esophagus through the help of a flexible tube called an endoscope), Barium swallow (an x-ray that requires you to drink a contrast fluid to give a better view of your esophagus), Esophageal manometry (measurement of the muscle contractions and how well it relaxes, while you take water), Esophageal pH monitoring (this check acid reflux and regurgitation by measuring the pH balance in the esophagus).
Conclusion
If you have ever experience an esophageal spasm, you likely would want to avoid having another one. Identifying and getting rid of substances that seem to be to trigger spasms is crucial. Generally, maintaining a healthy diet and habits help ensure the low probability of esophageal spasm even at old age.
While you may have gotten treated in an emergency room the first time or by your primary care doctor, especially if your symptoms were mistaken for heart attack or other heart conditions with similar symptoms, once the first diagnosis has been made, proper treatment and management of your spasms go under the heading of gastroenterology.
References
[1] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/angina/symptoms-causes/syc-20369373#:~:text=Angina%20is%20a%20type%20of,or%20pain%20in%20your%20chest.
[2] https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002282.htm#:~:text=Peristalsis%20is%20a%20series%20of,an%20automatic%20and%20important%20process.&text=Food%20through%20the%20digestive%20system
[3] https://www.cedars-sinai.org/health-library/diseases-and-conditions/n/nutcracker-esophagus.html#:~:text=Nutcracker%20esophagus%20is%20an%20abnormality,is%20caused%20by%20gastroesophageal%20reflux.
[4] https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/dysphagia/symptoms-causes/syc-20372028#:~:text=Difficulty%20swallowing%20(dysphagia)%20means%20it,cases%2C%20swallowing%20may%20be%20impossible.
[5] https://www.rxlist.com/regurgitation/definition.htm
[6] https://medlineplus.gov/ency/article/002282.htm#:~:text=Peristalsis%20is%20a%20series%20of,an%20automatic%20and%20important%20process.&text=Food%20through%20the%20digestive%20system
[7] https://www.healthline.com/health/gerd
[8] https://www.webmd.com/heartburn-gerd/default.htm