Suggest Treatment For Improper Functioning Of Epiglottis

Posted on Mon, 7 Mar 2016

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Mon, 7 Mar 2016 Answered on

Mon, 16 May 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : My mom had polo when she was young and her muscles are starting to fail. She is now having problems with her Epiglottis not working properly. Is the anything she can do for this?

Answered by Dr. Shoaib Khan (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Depends on the cause; but if there is nothing that can be done then tracheo

Detailed Answer:
Hello ma'am/sir and welcome.

Thank you for writing to us.

I have gone through your query with diligence and would like you to know that I am here to help. I am really sorry to hear about your mother, and hope things get better for her. I would first recommend an elaborate evaluation with her doctor to find the cause for the presentation, because there can be many, like:

+Infections
+Injury
+Inflammation
+Weakened immune system
+Muscular weakness (which is what you have reported)

Each cause can have a specific treatment approach, like an infection can be treated with antibiotics; injury with surgical correction; inflammation with antibiotics and anti-inflammatory, etc.

But if the main approach does not work, and the cause is muscular weakness then there is nothing that can be done to the epiglottis directly, but other indirect approaches will have to be used to prevent complications like a planned tracheostomy.

I hope you find my response helpful and informative. Please do not hesitate to write back to me for any further clarifications, I would be more than happy to help.

Best wishes.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar