To address these issues, expiratory muscle training (EMT) alone or in combination with postural techniques was tested to improve dysphagia in PD patients.
Key Findings
- The pharyngeal phase of swallowing is often affected in people with Parkinson’s disease (PD), contributing to dysphagia.
- Respiratory muscle strength is essential for swallowing.
- Respiratory muscle training (RMT) alone or in combination with postural techniques improves dysphagia in PD patients, confirmed by videofluoroscopic studies.
- The combination of the two methods is most effective.
- RMT effectively improves dysphagia in people with Parkinson’s disease.
Study Methods
Dysphagia was assessed by videofluoroscopic imaging (VFS) in PD patients before and after 4 weeks of EMT or EMT plus postural techniques, including chin tucking, head rotation, head tilting, bending head back, and lying down straight.
Study Results
EMT alone and EMT plus postural techniques reduced the VFS score, with the combination of both techniques being more effective.
In conclusion, EMT, alone or in combination with postural techniques, was shown to improve dysphagia in PD patients.
References
Byeon, H. Effect of simultaneous application of postural techniques and expiratory muscle strength training on the enhancement of the swallowing function of patients with dysphagia caused by Parkinson’s Disease. J. Phys. Ther. Sci. 28: 1840–1843, 2016.
Some notes in this short presentation awoke me to something I forgot to mentioned to my Dr. I’m having posture difficulties in that toward the end of a day, my neck vertebrae are often “snapping/popping” back and forth or cranial rotational sounds are felt/herd. This started about Halloween times in 2021 when I first noticed the trouble swallowing.