In this article I will tell you some general recommendations that can help you with different types of dysphagia. These are general recommendations that will be beneficial for patients suffering from it:
- Adaptation to appropriate foods / materials (thickeners, crushed agents, etc.), depending on the type of dysphagia the patient has.
- You have to do some swallowing maneuvers
- Postural changes (what type of postures are best suited for better swallowing); the best alignment is the trunk-dorsal-cephalic.
- You must have a suitable seat and position
- Oral exercises are very important
- Eat accompanied.
- Small volumes of food.
- Do your best to avoid straws or syringes, a better spoon that stimulates swallowing.
- Do not lie down immediately after meals.
- That the patient has good oral hygiene (will keep our teeth in good condition), which will be beneficial for proper chewing and better swallowing.
People suffering from this condition should follow a safe diet, adapted to the type of dysphagia present, to avoid aspirations and to maintain the optimal intake of nutrition and hydration.
We will perform an individualized diet based on the type of dysphagia (solid, liquid, or both) and we will usually need to perform regular checkups to see if they have improved or worsened, especially in the elderly, where dysphagia is very common. , which causes it to be established as chronic and often tends to worsen, which is why it is so important to perform such monitoring.
It should be noted that those who suffer from dysphagia may go from dysphagia to solids to dysphagia to liquids, conversely or may have dysphagia in both solids and liquids.
One of the most used techniques to know the level of tolerance that the patient has towards food is the MECV test (volume-viscosity test).