None listed
Conditions
Brief summary
In the treatment of swallowing disorders, a commonly used exercise is the head-lift manoeuvre. This technique requires an individual to lie on their back and repeatedly raise their head to look at their toes. This movement strengthens the muscles under the chin that are involved in swallowing. Although this exercise has been shown to be quite effective, some patients with swallowing impairments are not able to perform the technique, due to weakness, or neck/spine injuries. This study will evaluate the effectiveness of a modified manoeuvre in which the mouth is opened against resistance, thus specifically exercising only muscles under the chin, rather than all neck muscles. This task could be easily performed by most patients. This study will be completed by 28 healthy individuals assigned to one of two treatment groups. One group will perform the the modified manoeuvre, the other group will complete a placebo exercise of squeezing a ball, over a period of six weeks three times a day. Changes in muscle size and hyoid movement will be measured using ultrasound.
Interventions
Participants will be assigned to one of two exercise groups: modified head-lift manoeuvre (group one) or a placebo treatment which is known to not influence swallowing physiology (group two).
Exercise programme:
The instructions for each participant will vary depending on the exercise group they have been assigned to. Procedures for the two groups will be as follows:
Group 1 : Modified Head-lift manoeuvre
Participants assigned to the modified head-lift manoeuvre exercise group will be instru
Participants will be assigned to one of two exercise groups: modified head-lift manoeuvre (group one) or a placebo treatment which is known to not influence swallowing physiology (group two). Exercise programme: The instructions for each participant will vary depending on the exercise group they have been assigned to. Procedures for the two groups will be as follows: Group 1 : Modified Head-lift manoeuvre Participants assigned to the modified head-lift manoeuvre exercise group will be instructed to sit in an upright position. A theraband (elastic exercise band) will be fixed around their head. They will be instructed to open their mouth against the resistance of the theraband and hold it for one minute, and then rest one minute. The sustained jaw-opening against resistance will be repeated a total of 3 times. Then they will be instructed to to briefly open their mouth against the resistance. They will repeat this brief jaw-opening 30 times. Verbal feedback will be provided throughout regarding the mastery of task performance. Each participant will then be given an exercise record sheet to take home, and instructed to carry out the practiced exercise 3 times per day, 5 days per week for 6 weeks. Each of the 3 daily sessions will involve 33 repetitions of the assigned exercise (30 rapid ball squeezes and 3 sustained squeezes for the placebo group, and 33 jaw-openings for the modified head-lift group). Intervention tasks will be supervised by research clinician (speech language therapist)
Sponsors
University of Canterbury
Study design
Allocation
Randomised controlled trial
Intervention model
Parallel
Primary purpose
Treatment
Masking
Blinded (masking used)
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
All
Age
21 Years to No maximum
Healthy volunteers
Yes
Inclusion criteria
healthy adults aged 21+
Exclusion criteria
history of neurological or swallowing impairment; injury or illness to head and neck.
Outcome results
None listed