How do patients with esophageal cancer cope with problems such as dysphagia

The dietary problems faced by esophageal cancer patients are different from those faced by other cancer patients. The main dietary problems faced by general cancer patients are nausea, vomiting and loss of appetite, while the most prominent symptom of esophageal cancer patients is dysphagia, and the dysphagia of most esophageal cancer patients occurs gradually and progressively worsens.

For patients with esophageal cancer who have difficulty swallowing, when choosing food, they should choose food that is easy to enter the esophagus, such as semi-liquid food and full liquid food, and pay attention to the quality of the liquid, so that the food is comprehensive, nutritious and soft, easy to digest and absorb. If necessary, it can be made into a homogenate meal. A homogenate meal is food mashed into a paste, but the nutritional content is no different from normal food, so it can be easily swallowed by patients.

When patients feel choking when swallowing food, they should not force themselves to swallow, otherwise it will cause local cancer tissue bleeding, spread, metastasis and pain. They can rest for a while before trying to eat again.

The temperature of food should be maintained and cold food should be avoided. For example, milk and egg soup that have been left for a long time and are already cold should be avoided. If cold food is consumed, it may cause esophageal spasm, nausea, vomiting, pain, swelling, etc.

In addition, avoid spicy, oily and other irritating foods, because these foods can also cause esophageal spasm and make patients feel uncomfortable.