Swallowing problems across the age group in India is much ignored by medical and non medical professions. There are number of reasons for having a swallowing problem. They are

  1. Brain Stroke
  2. Traumatic Brain Injury
  3. Progressive Neurological conditions like Parkinson's Disease, Motor Neuro Disease
  4. Ageing
  5. Oro-motor and sensory impairment
  6. Head and Neck Cancer
  7. Other conditions affecting Neural system of swallowing, Structures of Oral, Pharyngeal, Laryngeal cavities

Some may occur in the young age (which are difficult to manage) and some at old age. Usual complaints by the person and the family of persons with swallowing problem are: 

  1. Not able to eat 
  2. Not able to swallow
  3. Not able to chew
  4. Unexplained wait loss 
  5. Cough while eating and/or drinking
  6. Oral residue
  7. Isolation from social dining

These problems need to be carefully assessed and are managed by Speech Language Pathologists at Hospital or clinical set up. Early rehabilitation has the highest chances of normalization as the muscles of swallow become weak if not used constantly.