Health Conditions That Benefit From Speech Therapy
Speech therapy is a beneficial service that helps strengthen the voice, muscles in the throat, and alternative options for communication as vocal skills deteriorate due to changing health. Many health conditions that affect the elderly benefit from speech therapy.
Cancer
Brain tumors and throat cancer can impact speech. If cancer affects the vocal cords, surgical removal of the cancerous growth can rob your mom of her speech. A brain tumor can impact the area of the brain that helps with speech.
When speech isn’t possible, your mom needs to be able to communicate. A speech-language pathologist can help your mom find other ways to share her thoughts and needs with others. It may involve hand gestures or written notes.
Dementia
Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia, but there are others. All can impact the brain and make it hard to speak clearly or even come up with the right words. A speech therapist helps your mom find the right word or come up with a way to get her message across.
People with dementia also tend to lose the muscle control needed when swallowing foods. Speech therapy also helps with swallowing skills, which is essential for avoiding aspiration pneumonia.
Aspiration pneumonia occurs when a piece of food or something like saliva ends up in the lungs instead of going to the stomach. If this happens, a dangerous infection can occur.
Multiple Sclerosis
MS is a chronic disease where the brain and central nervous system are affected by improper attacks by the immune system. The muscles in the throat can also be affected by MS and make it hard to swallow. Again, this increases the risk of aspiration pneumonia. A speech therapist will work with your mom to strengthen her muscles and safely swallow.
Muscular Dystrophy
Muscular dystrophy is one of 30 genetic conditions that causes a person’s muscles to degrade. People with muscular dystrophy often experience weakness in the muscles in the face and neck. Working with a speech therapist helps your mom with swallowing and muscle control in the throat.
Stroke
There are two kinds of strokes. One occurs when a blood vessel in the brain ruptures and creates a pool of blood that presses on nearby areas. The most common type of stroke occurs when a blood clot creates a blockage in a blood vessel and restricts blood flow and oxygen from reaching the brain.
When a stroke occurs, it impacts muscle control on one or both sides of the body. If the stroke happened in the left side of the brain, the right side is impacted. A stroke on the right side of the brain affects muscle control on the left side of the body. Sometimes, it impacts both sides.
After a stroke, the ability to walk, speak, control facial movements, and even use a hand are impacted. Swallowing is impacted, and it takes a lot of work with therapists to regain partial or complete use of the legs, hands, and face again. Speech therapy helps build swallowing and speech skills.
Work with an agency to arrange the speech therapy services your mom needs. Whether she has Alzheimer’s or suffered a stroke, a speech therapist will help her communicate and work on skills for swallowing. Call a speech therapy specialist to learn more.