The clinician's place for dysphagia awareness, evidence-based practice and information.
What is Cervical Auscultation? Using Cervical Auscultation (CA) involves the use of a stethoscope, placed on the throat to "listen" to the sounds of the swallow. Clinicians often use CA to assess swallow sounds and airway sounds. Judgements are made on the normality of the swallow or the degree of impairment of swallowing. Cervical [...]
I would love to share a story with you. Now keep in mind, I've been an SLP for a lot of years and feel that I do a pretty good job. Sometimes, I may even get a little over-confident in my skills and have to examine what I'm doing. Let's talk about a patient I've [...]
If you are considering joining or starting a head and neck cancer program, this is the read for you! I was searching through articles this morning and found this very article stating the importance of a team approach and a systematic approach to head and neck cancer! "Head and neck cancer guidelines recommend multidisciplinary team [...]
OK, so we’re probably not going to be burning any patients at the stake. I’m fairly certain that you may lose your license for that! I’m sure we’ve all been there though. We do a thorough assessment of a patient. We obtain instrumental assessment just as we were advised. We make recommendations based on [...]
Image from:http://thecollaboratory.wdfiles.com/local--files/philosophy-of-thought-and-logic-2011-2012/critical_thinking_skills.jpg ... Northern Speech Services has a new course called: Evidence-Based Practice In Adult Dysphagia Management: What The Evidence Says About Commonly Selected Rehabilitation Interventions. This is a webinar by Ianessa Humbert, Catriona Steele and Phoebe Macrae. I took this course over the weekend. It was GREAT! It starts with approximately 35 minutes of [...]
So, maybe it's not so much a book to read as an excellent reference guide to have for daily use. This book breaks down the anatomy and physiology into a very simple format. This is a great reference book to have and it's size makes it very easy to carry during your day. The Swallowing [...]
Carbonated Beverages Carbonated beverages have hit the dysphagia world by storm. Much of the recent dysphagia research has focused on the sensory portion of the swallow and how sensory drives the swallowing process. Part of the sensory process is carbonated beverages. One of the common misconceptions at this time is that carbonated beverages act as [...]
Northern Speech Services is offering a new course on head and neck cancer entitled: Head and Neck Cancer Across the Continuum of Care: Addressing Swallowing Challenges. The course is taught by Paula Sullivan who is an expert in dysphagia in the cancer population. Per the NSS website: This comprehensive online course will provide the participant [...]
I can't even count how many times I have started work in a new building or started a new PRN job and been told meal times so that I can go sit with patients during their meals for their therapy time. It's easy, right. I go sit in the dining room and "observe" 8 patients [...]
EDIT 1/4/17. Due to a recent Facebook post, I wanted to change some wording on this post. As with all areas of dysphagia, I continue to grow, learn and change my beliefs, mainly because of the patients I serve. Although my belief stands that those patients who do not follow my recommendation continue to require [...]