Lumpier textured foods are harder to chew and then form into a bolus (a collection of well-chewed food, moistened by saliva and then gathered together) to safely swallow, so often softer or even pureed foods may be recommended. There are thickening powders and pre-made drinks out there to make liquids nectar or honey thick consistencies – the thicker a liquid is, the slower it moves, giving you more time to prepare for and execute the swallowing process, so often thicker liquids may be recommended. If you have diet recommendations such as “nectar thick liquids” or “mechanical soft foods,” it’s important to follow those recommendations, as those are the consistencies of foods and drinks that your loved one is safely able to swallow.Based on these studies, a speech-language pathologist or occupational therapist may recommend specific types of foods and drinks for you or your loved one that are safest for them to eat and drink. Another is called a modified barium swallow study (MBS), a video x-ray where a speech-language pathologist or radiologist might give you foods and liquids to eat and drink that have barium in them so that they show up on the x-ray. There are a few types of swallow studies that can be done one is called a fiberoptic endoscopic evaluation of swallowing (FEES), when a speech-language pathologist or an ear/nose/throat (ENT) doctor passes a thin, flexible tube with a tiny video camera up your nose and down your throat to watch the swallow happen. The best way to determine dysphagia challenges and appropriate diet consistencies is to have a swallow study done.This refers to the textures and consistencies of the foods and drinks that are recommended for you or your loved one’s specific dysphagia difficulties. “Diet recommendations,” doesn’t mean cutting back on sugar. Looking for a few holiday tips to maximize your swallow safety? Read on! Tip #1 – Follow your diet recommendations Check out this cool video to see how cleverly our bodies protect our airways and get food safely into our stomachs! These three phases require coordination and strength, and if the nerves or muscles that take part in any of those stages of swallowing are impacted, a person can be at risk of aspiration (when material like saliva, liquid, or foods goes down the trachea and into the lungs instead of down the esophagus and into the stomach), which can cause pneumonia. When we swallow, there are three major phases that speech-language pathologists (SLPs) and occupational therapists (OTs) usually think about - the oral phase, when we put liquid or food in our mouths and prepare it to go down our throat the pharyngeal phase, when the muscles in our throat work together to move food safely down through our throat and into our esophagus and finally the esophageal phase, when our esophagus pushes foods and liquids into our stomach. Dysphagia, otherwise known as disordered swallowing, can impact people who have had a stroke, a traumatic brain injury, or other neurological or neuromuscular disorders like Parkinson’s or Multiple Sclerosis.
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