How to Combat Swallowing and Choking Problems

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How to Combat Swallowing and Choking Problems

I’ve written a few times recently about swallowing and choking problems that people with Parkinson’s face when their throat muscles no longer work the way they’re supposed to.  [click!  click!  click!]  It can be quite scary when you try to swallow some food or liquid and it gets stuck in your throat.  You panic, you gag, you eventually have to open your mouth and forcefully expel what you were trying to swallow.

And if this problem continues unchecked, it could lead to an early death.  As I’ve written before:

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I can’t deny that a scary end-of-life scenario doesn’t happen for some people with Parkinson’s.  Recently the New York Times published an editorial promoting physician-assisted suicide, in which it highlighted the case of John Rehm, husband of radio host Diane Rehm.  “Severely crippled by Parkinson’s disease,” the Times notes, “his only option for ending the suffering was to stop eating and drinking.”  His wife writes in a subsequent letter that “after suffering two bouts of pneumonia, brought on by John’s loss of muscular ability to swallow correctly, his doctor determined that John had six months or less to live and prescribed hospice care.”  His agonizing death from self-imposed starvation was, Diane Rehm says, “an example of a courageous man who saw his disability as continuing to lead him to further degradation and loss of dignity. He chose to die on his own terms, without further loss of his basic abilities to function as a full human being.”

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Not to mention that many of us have weakened voices, making it hard for people to understand us.

What to do?  I consulted a speech therapist who has Parkinson’s himself, and he gave me lots of useful exercises. I’ll pass them on to you now.

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How to Get Your Voice Back and Avoid Choking When Eating or Drinking

1. Set aside about twenty minutes, two or three times a day.
2. Get a drinking bottle that has a straw in it, or use a tall glass with a straw.
3. Point your chin down so it’s practically flush with your chest.
4. Sip a little bit of water and swallow it, keeping your chin pointing down.

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5.  Keep taking more and more of these tiny sips. Sip often.  It helps to keep the throat moist, and the numerous tiny sips reinforce the mouth and throat muscles’ duties to help you ingest food and liquids smoothly.

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6.  Now, with the remaining water in the bottle, blow bubbles through the straw. Blow in a steady-but-gentle stream for five seconds.

7.  Rest for 15 seconds and repeat again.

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8.  After you’ve done five sets of blowing bubbles, do another five sets, but this time, hum a tune. You can hum simple tunes at first (“Mary Had a Little Lamb”) and later challenge yourself to something ferocious, like the Star Spangled Banner – just keep it gentle.

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9.  Now move on to the EMST 150 Expiratory Muscle Strength Trainer.

(a) Take a deep breath using your diaphragm. You should feel your stomach expanding as you do this; your shoulders should not rise up.

(b)  Wrap you lips around the EMST 150 and blow hard and fast.

(c)  Wait ten seconds, then do it again.

(d)  Repeat until you’ve done 5 of them. Rest a minute or so, then do another set.

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10.  To check that you’re using your diaphragm, lean back in your chair, place your hands on your stomach, and make sure your hands and tummy rise up when you inhale.

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11. When you get into bed at night, lie on your back at first and place your hands on your stomach. Take deep breaths and note how your hands rise and fall.

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I’ve been doing this for 2 weeks now and so far have not choked on anything.  Plus, I notice my voice getting stronger.  I’ve also stopped drinking from bottles or cans, because when I’m about to finish the bottle, I tend to tilt the bottle upside down as I lean my head back, causing the liquid to cascade directly to the back of my mouth and throat, which for me is living dangerously.