Dysphagia Program
What is Dysphagia? Dysphagia is when a person has difficulty swallowing due to a disease, condition, or surgical intervention.PROGRAM OVERVIEW
Dysphagia can occur at different stages in the swallowing process: oral phase, pharyngeal phase or esophageal phase. Sage Rehabilitation Outpatient/Day Neuro Program has a team of speech-language pathologists that are certified and trained in the most up-to-date and evidence-based swallowing therapeutic treatment methods. Our speech-language pathologists can determine which program will address your individual patient needs so that you may continue eating the foods that you love.- Stroke
- Parkinson’s disease
- Multiple Sclerosis
- Huntington’s disease
- Dementia
- Cancer
- Brain Injury
- ALS
Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES)
Sage Outpatient’s expanded diagnostic abilities now includes Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES). Sage’s speech language pathologists (SLP) are trained to evaluate and treat swallowing disorders, also known as dysphagia.
FEES is a well-established procedure used by SLPs to evaluate the pharyngeal stages of swallowing. Patients are seated in a functional position and are offered a variety of food and liquid consistencies mixed with food coloring to determine safe swallowing function.
Once the physician’s referral is received, a FEES procedure will be scheduled within 48 hours. The procedure can be viewed on a monitor and is recorded for further evaluation if necessary. The FEES procedure will result in the ability to review swallowing physiology and make appropriate diet and swallowing safety recommendations.
Our Dysphagia program provides a comprehensive range of therapeutic services to patients who have suffered such injuries, all customized to meet a patient’s individual needs and goals.
Services include, but are not limited to:
- Neuromuscular Electrical Stimulation
- Visual Feedback during strengthening exercises to measure effort and facilitate goal oriented treatment
- Individualized Home Exercise Program training
- Compensatory strategy training
- Diet Modification
- Positioning recommendations
- Training with meal trials
Our speech-language pathology staff has several certifications and training as well as experience treating swallowing disorders in the neurologically affected population. We have therapists trained in:
- VitalStim Therapy: A safe, effective and non-invasive external stimulation for dysphagia
- Ampcare’s Effective Swallowing Protocol: a therapy program that involves intensive exercise in conjunction with neuromuscular stimulation to re-educate and strengthen swallowing muscles
- Intraoral Pressure Instrument (IOPI): a visual feedback tool that can measure the strength and effort of the lips and the tongue helping provide therapeutic goals for our patients
- Traditional Swallowing therapy methods: up to date and evidence-based therapeutic approaches that include swallowing exercises, diet modification, compensatory strategy training, and positioning recommendations
