Ex Swallows
🔞 ALL INFORMATION CLICK HERE 👈🏻👈🏻👈🏻
Ex Swallows
Swallowing Exercises for Dysphagia From Neurological Causes
Verywell Health's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Ⓒ 2022 Dotdash Media, Inc. — All rights reserved
Jose Vega MD, PhD, is a board-certified neurologist and published researcher specializing in stroke.
Verywell Health articles are reviewed by board-certified physicians and healthcare professionals. These medical reviewers confirm the content is thorough and accurate, reflecting the latest evidence-based research. Content is reviewed before publication and upon substantial updates. Learn more .
Medically reviewed by
Nicholas R. Metrus, MD
Learn about our
Medical Expert Board
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Dysphagia and Swallowing Problems: What You Need to Know
Femur Fracture Recovery: 7 Physical Therapy Exercises
What Your Body Does When You Swallow Your Food
Swallowing Evaluation After a Stroke
Dysphagia and Mental Illness: Causes and Symptoms
Hard Time Swallowing Pills? Here's Help!
Do You Need Dysphagia Therapy to Strengthen Your Jaw?
Five Lip Exercises for Dysphagia Therapy
How Nerves, Muscles, and Parts of Your Brain Coordinate Swallowing
The Hyoid Bone and Its Function and Location
How Dysphagia Disrupts Food Digestion
How to Take Oral Medications Properly
A Few Tongue Exercises to Do in Dysphagia Therapy
The Best Leg Strengthening Exercises After a Leg Injury or Surgery
Verywell Health's content is for informational and educational purposes only. Our website is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
Ⓒ 2022 Dotdash Media, Inc. — All rights reserved
Verywell Health is part of the Dotdash Meredith publishing family.
Nicholas R. Metrus, MD, is a board-certified neurologist and neuro-oncologist. He currently serves at the Glasser Brain Tumor Center in Summit, New Jersey.
While swallowing is considered an effortless, reflexive action, it's actually quite a complicated and coordinated maneuver involving many muscles and nerves.
As a result, neurological conditions characterized by damage to the brain, spinal cord or nerves can often result in difficulties swallowing, called dysphagia.
The most common neurological conditions associated with dysphagia include:
Depending on the specific neurological condition, a person may experience dysphagia for unique reasons. For example, with a stroke, a person may have difficulties swallowing because there may be an absent or delayed swallowing reflex , weakened throat muscles, and difficulty controlling tongue movements. 1
In Parkinson's disease , dysphagia may occur from a delayed swallow response, as well as a symptom called tongue pumping, in which a person's tongue moves back and forth repetitively preventing food from leaving the mouth.
Swallowing difficulties can result in excess production of saliva, drooling, coughing or choking during eating, and even difficulty speaking or a hoarse voice. An infection of the lungs called aspiration pneumonia may also occur, as can malnutrition and dehydration.
To avoid these dysphagia-related complications, the evaluation of neurological illness often involves a formal swallowing assessment . This can help identify dysphagia before complications occur.
The American Heart Association recommends early screening for dysphagia after stroke to help reduce the risk of developing adverse health consequences, including weight loss, dehydration, malnutrition, pneumonia and overall quality of life concerns. 2
Therapies designed to improve swallowing are focused on strengthening muscles and building coordination of the nerves and muscles involved in swallowing. Exercising your swallowing muscles is the best way to improve your ability to swallow.
In addition to the exercises you may do with your speech and swallow therapist, you can also improve your swallowing function with at-home swallowing exercises.
Here are some swallowing exercises developed by dysphagia rehabilitation experts:
This simple exercise can strengthen muscles to improve your swallowing ability.
To perform this exercise, lie flat on your back and raise your head as though you were trying to fixate your gaze on your toes. While you do this, make sure not to raise your shoulders.
It is best to do this exercise three to six times per day for at least six weeks. If you are able to successfully carry it out, then you can prolong the duration of each head lift and increase the number of repetitions.
This exercise will help you build swallowing muscle strength and control.
Place a few small pieces of paper (about one inch in diameter) over a blanket or a towel. Then place a straw in your mouth and suck one of the pieces of paper to its tip. Keep sucking on the straw to keep the paper attached, bring it over a cup or a similar container and stop sucking. This will release the paper into the container.
Your goal for each session is to place about five to 10 pieces of paper into the container. 3
This simple exercise is very effective at improving the swallowing reflex. It involves swallowing your own saliva. Normally, as the saliva enters the area just behind your mouth while swallowing, your Adam's apple (the hard area about halfway down the front of your neck) moves up and then back down.
To do this exercise, keep your Adam's apple elevated for about two to five seconds each time. In order to better understand the movement, you can keep your Adam's apple elevated with your fingers at first.
Repeat this exercise several times per day until you are able to control your swallowing muscles without assistance from your hands. 3
The purpose of this exercise is to improve the contact and coordination between the different muscles used during the act of swallowing.
In essence, the exercise consists of swallowing. But as you do it, you must try to squeeze all of the muscles of swallowing as hard as you can. You do not need to swallow food during the exercise. Just a dry swallow will do.
Perform this exercise five to 10 times, three times per day to strengthen your muscles. 3
You should try this exercise without food first. As you become better at the exercise, you can try it with actual food in your mouth.
This exercise consists of three simple steps:
This exercise is just like the supraglottic maneuver described above, but with an extra twist.
After you take that deep breath, bear down while swallowing. The pressure generated helps with swallowing and increases the strength of your swallowing muscles. 3
If you or a loved one has dysphagia from a neurological cause, these exercises can improve swallowing and help prevent aspiration and malnutrition.
During swallow rehabilitation, your therapist may also recommend dietary changes to improve swallowing like using a straw or spoon, taking smaller bites of foods, or using a thickener to bulk up thin liquids.
Sign up for our Health Tip of the Day newsletter, and receive daily tips that will help you live your healthiest life.
There was an error. Please try again.
Buchholz DW. Dysphagia associated with neurological disorders . Acta Otorhinolaryngol Belg . 1994;48(2):143-55
Vose A, Nonnenmacher J, Singer ML, González-Fernández M. Dysphagia management in acute and sub-acute stroke . Curr Phys Med Rehabil Rep . 2014;2(4):197–206. doi:10.1007/s40141-014-0061-2
Hegland KW, Davenport PW, Brandimore AE, Singletary FF, Troche MS. Rehabilitation of swallowing and cough functions following stroke: An expiratory muscle strength training trial . Arch Phys Med Rehabil . 2016 Aug;97(8):1345-51. doi: 10.1016/j.apmr.2016.03.027
There was an error. Please try again.
About NFOSD Our commitment is to provide patient hope and improve quality of life for those suffering from all types of swallowing disorders.
© Copyright 2022 NFOSD. | Log in | Terms of Use | Site by TBV | Facebook | Twitter | Instagram
The following exercises and associated videos are only to be used under the explicit guidance of your physician or speech-language pathologist (SLP). You must consult your physician or medical specialist before using these exercises. If you feel pain or experience unusual symptoms while performing any of these exercises, stop the exercise immediately and consult your medical team before any further use. Read and understand all instructions carefully before using.
Your physician or speech-language pathologist will select which exercises are useful to improving your swallowing function. If an exercise is not selected, do not attempt it without consulting your medical team. They will develop a program customized and unique to the needs of each patient. This includes the number of repetitions, the number of seconds each exercise should be performed, and the rest period between exercises.
A two page PDF available in both English and Spanish are available by clicking the link below. These can be printed by your clinician to allow them to customize your swallowing exercise routine.
This information (instruction and videos), unless otherwise noted, have been provided to the NFOSD by the UC Davis Health System, Department of Otolaryngology and Nancy Swigert, CCC-SLP, BCS-S, F-ASHA and colleagues. The material is copyrighted. All rights associated with this copyrighted material will be enforced. It is being made available free of charge to all physicians and speech language pathologists to be used by their patients.
1. Effortful Swallow: Collect all the saliva in your mouth onto the center of your tongue. Keep your lips closed and tight together. Pretend you are swallowing a grape whole in one big, hard swallow. The number of repetitions is patient specific. Click here for Video.
2. Isokinetic (dynamic) Shaker: The number of repetitions defined by your clinician is considered a set. You should perform the set twice (resting briefly between each set). You should then rest for two minutes and then repeat this exercise as many times as directed by your clinician. Ignore the number of repetitions and sets as directed in the video. Click here for Video. The number of repetitions and sets are patient specific.
3. Isometric (static) Shaker: Click here for Video. The length of each repetition and the number of repetitions is set by your clinician. Rest for one minute between repetitions.
4. Jaw Thrust: Move your lower jaw as far forward as you can. Your lower teeth should be in front of your upper teeth. Click here for Video. Note, patients with jaw replacement should use extra caution before performing this exercise so as not to stress the jaw bone. The length of time for each repetition and number of repetitions is patient specific.
5. Lollipop Swallowing: Click here for Video. Place a sugarless lollipop in your mouth and lick. Lick three times and then do an effortful swallow with your lips firmly pressed together. Swallow as hard as you can. The number of repetitions is patient specific.
6. Masako Maneuver: Stick your tongue out of your mouth between your front teeth and gently bite down to hold it in place. Swallow while keeping your tongue gently between your teeth. You can let go of your tongue between swallows and repeat. Click here for Video. The number of repetitions is patient specific.
7. Mendelsohn Maneuver: Place your middle three fingers (index, middle, ring) on your Adam’s Apple (the skin in front of your neck beneath your chin). Swallow once to practice. Feel your Adams Apple slide upward as you swallow. Now, swallow again and when your Adam’s Apple gets to its highest position in the throat, squeeze your throat muscles and hold it as high as you can for as long as your clinician has directed for this exercise (or as long as you can if you can’t hold it for this length of time). Click here for Video. The length of time for each repetition and number of repetitions is patient specific.
8. Yawn : The goal of this exercise is to increase the strength of the back of the tongue and throat muscles. Yawn and when you get into a big stretch, hold that position for as long as indicated. Click here for Video.
9. Supraglottic Maneuver: Perform this exercise if and only if directed by your clinician. Your clinician should also provide direction as to the position of your head (tucked, right, left, straight). Collect a small bit of saliva in mouth. Take a deep breath and hold your breath (if the vocal folds are not closed then try to inhale and say ah, turn off your voice and hold your breath). Keep holding your breath while you swallow. Immediately after you swallow, cough. Practice with saliva prior to food or liquid. Click here for Video. The number of repetitions is patient specific.
10. Tongue Strength Exercise: Using a tongue depressor, press the tip of your tongue out against the tongue depressor. Put the tongue depressor on the tip of your tongue and push up. To exercise the middle part of your tongue, put the tongue depressor towards the middle of your tongue and push up against the roof of your mouth. To exercise the back of the tongue, say the “k” sound, then put the tongue depressor on the spot of the tongue that made contact with the roof of your mouth and push up. Next, sweep the tip of your tongue from the very front of your mouth to the back along the roof of your mouth. Lastly, lateralize your tongue from one corner of your mouth to the other. The number of repetitions is patient specific. Click here for Video.
11. Tongue Range of Motion: First, stick your tongue out as far as possible and hold as instructed. Then pull the tongue back into the mouth as far as you can. Then, lateralize the tongue tip to one corner of your mouth and hold. Then switch to the opposite side and hold. Lastly, open your mouth put your tongue tip behind your top teeth and hold the stretch. The number of sets is patient specific. Click here for Video.
12. Tongue Retraction Exercise : Don’t use the tip of your tongue. Instead, pull the back of your tongue as far into the mouth as you can and hold. Click here for Video.
13. Effortful Pitch Glide: Say “eee” in as low a pitch as possible and then gradually raise the pitch of your voice until the highest tone possible. Hold this tone for the length of time directed by your clinician. Click here for Video.
14. Lip Range of Motion : Pull your lips into a smile and hold the stretch. Next, open your jaw wide and then stretch your lips into a smile and hold. Click here for Video.
In addition to the swallowing exercises above, there are also devices on the market designed to help improve the swallow function. The link below will direct you to information on devices that can be used in conjunction with the exercises above. We provide this information to empower the patient. Please consult with your medical professional as this type of treatment may not be right for you:
All Titles TV Episodes Celebs Companies Keywords Advanced Search
Fully supported English (United States) Partially supported Français (Canada) Français (France) Deutsch (Deutschland) हिंदी (भारत) Italiano (Italia) Português (Brasil) Español (España) Español (México)
In this warm hearted farce, local boy Eddie returns to the small California town where he grew up, setting in motion a comedy of Eros. Eddie spots and falls for local handyman Jeff. Handyman... Read all In this warm hearted farce, local boy Eddie returns to the small California town where he grew up, setting in motion a comedy of Eros. Eddie spots and falls for local handyman Jeff. Handyman Jeff works for Hank who runs the Swallows restaurant. Hank's long ago ex, Pietro, is retu... Read all In this warm hearted farce, local boy Eddie returns to the small California town where he grew up, setting in motion a comedy of Eros. Eddie spots and falls for local handyman Jeff. Handyman Jeff works for Hank who runs the Swallows restaurant. Hank's long ago ex, Pietro, is returning to cater a wedding, while Eddie takes a temporary job as a cook in order to get his ... Read all
Suggest an edit or add missing content
2022 TV Guide: The Best Shows Coming This Year
LGBTQIA+ Movies and Shows to Watch This Summer
50 Boundaries Quotes, Because Saying “No” Is Healthy, Normal, & Necessary
You Bet I Complain About My Husband On Social Media
Sign up for Scary Mommy's daily newsletter for more stories from the trenches.
© 2022 BDG Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
Instead of talking about us, she talked about the new person she was dating.
We had been together for 10 years. We were married for 7. We had tried our hardest to make this relationship work for the last couple years of it. We had attended counseling together. We had been doing the work the counselor suggested. We had taken a trip to Europe to try to save our marriage.
When we were at the tail end of the relationship, she suggested that we move out of our shared space and try living separately. We were going to check back in within a few months.
During the few months apart, I did much soul-searching and thinking about the relationship and what had gone wrong. I had started counseling and doing the inner work. I was not in the mindset of a permanent separation but wanted to get back with her as soon as we met.
Yet, the meeting didn’t go as planned. She was more sure than ever that it was time for us to separate. Instead of talking about us, she was talking about a person she was dating. She felt this was a good relationship and she inquired about divorce paperwork.
Not only did we talk about the actual logistics of getting a divorce, but she was asking about it because she was considering getting remarried to the new person she was dating.
The world around me came crashing down on the drive back to my own place. I couldn’t make sense of the world anymore.
I had gone to meet her with the expectation we were getting back together. She had cooked a meal that I thought would be the beginning of a new life together. Only later did I realize that it would be our last meal together.
I began to wonder what our relationship even meant and how could she move on so quickly? Does this mean that our relationship meant nothing?
I had not even started the grieving process yet and she was talking about another marriage? Of course, the new guy was a writer as well and had done blah blah blah. He sounded similar to me in so many ways. I don’t know why she thought sharing so many details about him would make this easier for me to digest.
Ironically, the car radio was playing Adele’s song, Someone Like You , where Adele’s ex had gotten married and move on with his life.
“ I heard that you’re settled down. That you found a girl and are married now. I heard that your dreams came true… ”
Adele’s song was suddenly becoming my life story.
For the longest time, I didn’t have answers and was consumed with anger and sorrow. I felt that this was about the worst thing that anyone could have done to someone else. It felt like stabbing someone in the heart.
Now, in retrospect, I can see that her moving on quickly was not the worst thing she could have done. I have a much healthier perspective on someone who moves on quickly after a relationship is over.
Here are 5 mature lessons I learned from this experience:
Not everyone will move on, heal or grieve on the same timeline as you. S
Big Naked Boobs Bouncing
White Bbw Riding
Transexual In Bondage