Guest guest Posted January 4, 2012 Report Share Posted January 4, 2012 I do think that you were having bougie dilatations in the past but it is good that you have relief now. My daughter had pneumatic dilatation last month in South Carolina and so far everything seems to be fine. She can eat properly now. She had chest pain for the first couple of days but no more. Once or twice she seemed to have reflux but it is settled now anil achalasia From: imahockeymom@... Date: Wed, 4 Jan 2012 15:50:39 +0000 Subject: Re: Ballon Dilitation I'm glad that you've found relief. I am another who has been able to avoid surgery with this procedure. Just so you are aware, balloon or pneumatic dilation is the standard non-surgical treatment for achalasia. Bougie dilation is not " severe " enough to tear the sphincter muscle in most cases. The vast majority of us who mention " dilation " are referring to the balloon / pneumatic procedure. Sounds like your doctor was doing Bougies all along, which explains why you weren't having much success with them. Welcome to the group, and happy swallowing! Debbi in Michigan > > I am a 72 year old male in central Indiana, USA. I've been battling Achalasia all of my adult life. I've had dilatations, multiple bo tox injections, and even had a Heller Myotomy in November 2010. None of these gave me any long term relief. I found the effectiveness decreased as I aged. They were talking to me about the surgical technique to remove my esophagus. > > I recently had a balloon dilatation. So far the results have been near miraculous. In the month since I had it I've only had 3 minor episodes of food " sticking " . In all 3 cases the situation resolved itself after a second or two. I've been able to eat virtually anything I want, steaks, pizza, or doughy dinner rolls. All of these were potentially troublesome prior to the balloon procedure. > > They did the process in 2 steps. The first time they inflated the balloon to 20 mm. This gave me relief for about 5 days, but the symptoms returned. Then they upped the balloon to 30 mm about 2 weeks later. Since then no problems at all. > > So what I'm recommending to you, if you have been struggling with this condition and have been disappointed with the success of conventional dilitations, ask your Gastro doctor about the balloon procedure. If he doesn't do it find somebody that can. If you can't find one, and live anywhere near central Indiana and would like the name of the clinic that did mine, contact me off list at r11rtrdr@... If your experience is anything like mine I think you'll be ecstatic. > > > Greg > Greenwood, IN > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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