What Is The Difference Between Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease?

You'll often hear the terms Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease and Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease mentioned in reference to problems, but what do these terms actually mean? To understand them we must first look at the way our upper digestive canal works.

The esophagus is the tube that food travels along from the mouth to the stomach. There are circular muscles (sphincters) at both the top and bottom ends of the esophagus that help guide food to the stomach in a controlled fashion, stopping your food "going down the wrong way" and the acidic contents in your stomach being regurgitated.

When we use the word 'reflux' in relation to stomach and digestive questions, we are referring to the reflux ("flowing back") of stomach contents. Instead of moving downwards to the stomach, or remaining in it, food and gastric acid move backwards toward the esophagus. This is what is called acid reflux.

Gastroesophageal reflux disease refers more specifically to a failure of the bottom esophageal sphincter to seal off and prevent stomach contents from passing back up into the esophagus. This is the most common type of disease.

When the caustic stomach acids touch the sensitive lining of your esophagus, you feel discomfort or pain in the form of a burning sensation (heartburn). Since the esophagus is not built to withstand stomach acid, it doesn't take much to cause you a great deal of discomfort.

Laryngopharyngeal reflux, on the other hand, lies at the other end of the esophasgus. With LPRD the problem lies in not just one but both of the esophageal sphincters. While gastric reflux is a painful occurrence, tissues of the areas before, i.e. above the esophagus in your throat are even more sensitive and vulnerable to (I can vouch for this).

When the upper esophageal sphincter fails to retain stomach acid that has been regurgitated through the lower sphincter, this is known as laryngopharyngeal reflux. The structures in your throat are much more sensitive to the damaging effects of digestive fluids than the esophagus, as anyone who has experienced this kind of reflux will attest. Lungs, larynx and pharynx are particularly fragile when it comes to caustic stomach acid.

On the other hand, if you suffer from LPRD you may not have heartburn-like symptoms. Why should this be so? Normal heartburn hurts because esophageal tissue is irritated, but with laryngopharyngeal reflux disease it can be a less nerve-infused portion being affected by acid reflux.

Although if you regurgitate into your throat you may indeed suffer from burning symptoms, that's easy to spot, but there are other things you should watch out for. Symptoms can include chronic coughing, pain in the throat, frequent throat clearing and asthma type symptoms. Don't mess around if you think that you may be suffering from laryngopharyngeal reflux; go to see your doctor straight away. There are many non-medicinal steps you can take which can also help.