Swallowing requires the different centers in our brain and multiple muscles in your neck to work together and in sync. Therefore, if swallowing difficulties develop for some reason, swallowing needs to be restored. One of the best ways to achieve this is swallowing therapy.
What is Swallowing Therapy?
Swallowing requires the different centers in our brain and multiple muscles in your neck to work together and in sync. Therefore, if swallowing difficulties develop for some reason, swallowing needs to be restored. One of the best ways to achieve this is swallowing therapy.
Swallowing therapy is a treatment method that, through various exercises, exercises the muscles used during swallowing, increases the elasticity of the tissues and neurologically restores proper functioning.
Who Can Benefit from Swallowing Therapy?
Swallowing therapy can be effective for many swallowing disorders. Patients for whom we recommend swallowing therapy:
– Long history of intensive care
– Childhood dysphagia
– Difficulty swallowing after Radiation Therapy (Radiotherapy)
– Laryngeal cancer
– Dysphagia after head and neck cancer
– Neurosurgery
– Stroke
– Parkinson
– Cerebral Palsy
– Dementia
– Alzheimer’s
– ALS disease
– Other neurological diseases
How is Swallowing Assessment Performed?
Swallowing assessment is the most critical step for patients with dysphagia. The first stage of the evaluation is a very detailed history of dysphagia. This should be followed by a physical examination by an otorhinolaryngologist. After this examination, further swallowing evaluations can be performed if deemed necessary. These evaluations are Functional Endoscopic Swallowing Test or Video Fluoroscopic Swallowing Test. In the light of these evaluations, therapy may be recommended as a treatment option.
How is swallowing therapy performed?
Many different exercises or methods can be used in swallowing therapy. These exercises may be exercises that can be done by oneself without the need to use a device, or they may be exercises that need to be done in the presence of a therapist. The frequency and timing of this work is decided by swallowing therapists in the light of physician guidance. Depending on the underlying diseases of the patients, some special equipment may be used during therapy. This equipment may include kinesio bands, rods used for thermal stimulation, toothbrushes or Vital Stim, which involves the application of electrical stimulation. The important thing is to determine the needs of the patient, to plan the treatment correctly and to have it performed by an experienced therapist.