Resistance Straws and the Effortful Swallow Technique

Objective: To assess the effects of TheraSIP™ high resistance straws, a recently developed procedure for enhancing effortful swallow rehabilitation, on the effortful swallow maneuver. Design: Case-controlled design in which subjects completed three trial swallows under five swallow conditions and two effort conditions. Setting: A university speech and swallowing physiology laboratory. Participants: Forty-one healthy men and women between 18 and 59 years of age from the surrounding community. Interventions: Participants sipped water (from four resistance straws of differing internal diameters)/(under five swallow conditions) and subsequently swallowed using both normally and using the effortful swallow maneuver. Main Outcome Measures: The biomechanics of the swallows were analyzed from submental electromyographic and simultaneous oral pressure data. Results: In all effort and swallow conditions, the dry swallow had the highest values for both muscle activity and lingual pressure. For lingual pressure, a significant main effect of straw condition was observed (p = .009). For muscle activity, a significant main effect of straw condition was observed (p = .004). Conclusion: The smaller diameter resistance straw did not elicit high muscle activity and lingual pressure in the subsequent normal and effortful swallows.