Re: Heads Up on Swallowing Studies

[Guest guest]

,

In terms of what is important, make sure you get the results and have them explain the difference between penetration and aspiration. Penetration is sometimes normal in people, but it usually means that liquid and/or solids are falling to the level of the vocal cords-directly above the trachea(windpipe) and there is a chance they could fall into the airway, or they could be cleared out normally. If it is aspiration, find out on what consistences. You may see pooling of liquids and/or solids in certain areas or maybe weakness in her ability to be able to chew and move the food to the back of her mouth to swallow. With neurological conditions, it really varies, but as conditions progress, swallowing usually becomes compromised at some point. With my mom, I notice she coughs after drinking liquids, so she does not use straws anymore, and tucks her chin as she swallows--this does not work for everyone and chin tucks can sometimes make the swallowing problem worse, this is just what we did in her case.

As a Speech Pathologist myself, I can't stress enough how important it is to follow the recommendations the SLP makes--diet modifications and posturing.It is something that will help help your wife greatly.

Take care and hope this was helpful.

[Guest guest]

Hi : my husband, Bob, had a swallowing test done a couple of weeks

ago. It showed he was aspirating water, so now all his food needs to be

pureed & the liquid needs to be thickened. He needs to be watched

closely because if this happens with the " new " food, he will need a

feeding tube insterted. Unless the patient is having major problems

with swallowing, they don't do anything. The speech is another issue.

Speech therapy is called for if that is a problem. Good luck.

Regards, jerrie

[Guest guest]

,

In terms of what is important, make sure you get the results and have them explain the difference between penetration and aspiration. Penetration is sometimes normal in people, but it usually means that liquid and/or solids are falling to the level of the vocal cords-directly above the trachea(windpipe) and there is a chance they could fall into the airway, or they could be cleared out normally. If it is aspiration, find out on what consistences. You may see pooling of liquids and/or solids in certain areas or maybe weakness in her ability to be able to chew and move the food to the back of her mouth to swallow. With neurological conditions, it really varies, but as conditions progress, swallowing usually becomes compromised at some point. With my mom, I notice she coughs after drinking liquids, so she does not use straws anymore, and tucks her chin as she swallows--this does not work for everyone and chin tucks can sometimes make the swallowing problem worse, this is just what we did in her case.

As a Speech Pathologist myself, I can't stress enough how important it is to follow the recommendations the SLP makes--diet modifications and posturing.It is something that will help help your wife greatly.

Take care and hope this was helpful.

[Guest guest]

:

This is exactly the kind of " heads up " I was hoping for. May not have time

to check attachment as appointment is in four hours. Thank for you

incisive comments.

Message: 23

Date: Tue, 5 Mar 2002 15:51:45 EST

From: TigerI1884@...

Subject: Re: " Heads Up " on Swallowing Studies

,

In terms of what is important, make sure you get the results and have them

explain the difference between penetration and aspiration. Penetration is

sometimes normal in people, but it usually means that liquid and/or solids

are falling to the level of the vocal cords-directly above the

trachea(windpipe) and there is a chance they could fall into the airway, or

they could be cleared out normally. If it is aspiration, find out on what

consistences. You may see pooling of liquids and/or solids in certain areas

or maybe weakness in her ability to be able to chew and move the food to the

back of her mouth to swallow. With neurological conditions, it really

varies, but as conditions progress, swallowing usually becomes compromised at

some point. With my mom, I notice she coughs after drinking liquids, so she

does not use straws anymore, and tucks her chin as she swallows--this does

not work for everyone and chin tucks can sometimes make the swallowing

problem worse, this is just what we did in her case.

As a Speech Pathologist myself, I can't stress enough how important it is to

follow the recommendations the SLP makes--diet modifications and posturing.It

is something that will help help your wife greatly.

Take care and hope this was helpful.

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Sennewald Charlottesville, Virginia