Nowadays, there are many elderly people who have difficulty swallowing due to the elasticity of soft tissues in their bodies, and in the face of this symptom, the elderly can often adjust the swallowing method and adjust the texture of the food to alleviate this symptom. At the same time, the elderly can also reduce the symptoms of dysphagia by doing tongue exercises and swallowing exercises in the throat area every day.
Dysphagia is a condition that occurs in many elderly people today, mainly due to the loosening of soft tissue elasticity in the body and the enlarged space of the epiglottis in the throat. Therefore, it is easy for the elderly to have food residues in the throat, which can cause symptoms such as difficulty swallowing. So, what to do if the elderly have difficulty swallowing?
1. Adjust the way you swallow
When the elderly have symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, they can be relieved by adjusting the swallowing method. Because different postures can change the flow direction of food, if you lower your head and swallow, you can effectively protect the tracheal passage of the elderly, and at the same time can prevent food or liquid from flowing into the throat too quickly, which can make eating safer. If you are an elderly person who eats in bed, you need to raise the head of the bed to 90 degrees.
2. Adjust the texture of food
If you want to alleviate symptoms such as dysphagia, you can do so by adjusting the texture of your food. Generally, it can be achieved by increasing the viscosity of the liquid, and this effect can be achieved by adding thickeners or thickening agents to water or soup to make it thicker, so as to reduce the flow rate of the liquid and prevent it from flowing too fast and entering the respiratory tract.
3. Stick to tongue exercises
When the elderly find that their body has symptoms such as difficulty swallowing, they can increase the strength of the muscles at the base of the tongue and throat by insisting on doing tongue exercises every day, which can also reduce the residue of food in the throat. First of all, the old man needs to stretch his tongue forward, gently bite the fixed tip of the tongue with his teeth, and then keep swallowing saliva, but the tip of the tongue should still be kept outside. Repeat this about 8 times.
4. Insist on swallowing the pharynx
Swallowing in the throat every day can also help the elderly to effectively relieve their dysphagia symptoms, because it can help the throat area to lift the muscles.