The ability to swallow is something we all take for granted. So imagine the catastrophic effects of not being able to swallow safely and comfortably (dysphagia). Being unable to swallow hugely impacts one’s ability to socialise. Let us think back to the last time we met friends or family or arranged to meet someone. Usually most social gatherings involve eating and drinking: meeting up in a pub, going out for dinner, throwing a party, having friends over in the summer for a barbecue. As George Bernard Shaw once said ‘There is no love sincerer than the love of food’. Swallowing difficulties can make one feel excluded from many social activities. Eating and drinking is more than just sustenance- a fact.
Swallowing is a complex behaviour which can be volitional or reflexive. It involves more than 30 muscles. The swallowing process is commonly divided into oral (mouth), pharyngeal (neck), and oesophageal (gullet) stages.
It can be devastating to be given the news that you or your loved one is unable to swallow safely or that their diet is to be limited to certain consistencies or types of food. At Speakology we feel that swallow rehabilitation is an underutilised. Although all dysphagias cannot be resolved there are certainly many that can be reduced or resolved. This can only be done with targeted and specialist therapy. We like to think of dysphagia therapy as physiotherapy for the mouth and throat. By applying exercise principles to therapy it is possible to drive muscle change or even recruit more intact muscles to compensate. The main challenge of therapy, in our experience, is targeting the small muscles in the mouth and neck and this is more taxing than exercising limbs, but there are novel and downright strange ways of achieving this if one is determined enough!
If you or someone you know is suffering from dysphagia ask your Speech and Language Therapist about therapy options or contact Speakology on 02036332499.
