Hello doctor, I am a 27 year old male, and I feel like something is stuck in my chest for about a week now. And this feeling is not going away. It is very uncomfortable, and I am scared about having cancer. I have been to a doctor, and he says I have an inflamed esophagus, but medicines are not helping.
Hi. Greetings of the day. Yes, it could be inflammation of the esophagus because it has an acute onset. Other possibilities are an esophageal stricture, causing narrowing of the lumen and pain while swallowing. There are various causes of inflammation and stricture of the esophagus, for example, reflux of acid from the stomach, ingestion, secondary narrowing due to a growth of some mass causing compression over the esophagus. One group of motility disorder also causes problems in the esophagus, for that we need barium study and manometry study. In this situation, liquids will cause more problems than solids. So, for that, we need to plan investigations for various etiologies. I suggest you get the following tests done. An endoscopy will be required for the same, and that will give a more clear picture of the esophagus. A biopsy can be taken by this modality, we will do it after the initial reports. For treatment, I suggest you try taking tablet Pantoprazole 40 mg, once a day. Take semisolid food rather than solid. Revert with more information to a medical gastroenterologist online -->