Abstract
Tongue-hold swallow (THS) is a therapeutic maneuver used to increase the posterior pharyngeal wall motion during swallowing. This maneuver has also been reported to result in increased activation of the suprahyoid muscles. The hypothesis of this study was that the degree of suprahyoid muscle activation would depend on the tongue protrusion-length. The aim of this study was to investigate the activation levels of the suprahyoid muscles by surface electromyography (sEMG) while performing the THS maneuver at three tongue-protrusion lengths. Suprahyoid muscle activity during THSs was recorded in 25 adult volunteers (17 women and 8 men; age range 20–38 years). To record the activity of the suprahyoid muscles while the participants performed the maneuver, surface wireless EMG electrodes separated by a distance of 1 cm were placed on the skin on both sides of the midline under the chin. Each activity was recorded three times. Data analysis was performed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. Our results revealed that participants exhibited greater electrical activity during THS with 2/3rd or maximal tongue protrusion as compared to THS with 1/3rd tongue protrusion (p ≤ 0.001). To maximize the therapeutic effect of the THS maneuver, it is advised to protrude the tongue maximally as long as swallowing is possible.
Highlights
Tongue-hold swallow (THS) is a therapeutic maneuver that helps increase the posterior pharyngeal wall motion during swallowing (Fujiu and Logemann 1996; Lazarus et al 2002)
Comparison of peak suprahyoid muscle activation levels according to the length of tongue‐protrusion during normal swallowing Table 1 presents the comparison of peak surface electromyography (sEMG) values of each tasks with those obtained during THS with 1/3rd tongue protrusion
The results of evaluation of peak suprahyoid muscle activation values indicated that the suprahyoid muscles exhibited greater electrical activity during THS with 2/3rd (p = 0.001) and maximal tongue protrusion (p < 0.001) as compared with to THS with 1/3rd tongue protrusion
Summary
Tongue-hold swallow (THS) is a therapeutic maneuver that helps increase the posterior pharyngeal wall motion during swallowing (Fujiu and Logemann 1996; Lazarus et al 2002). It has been surmised that this technique can improve the contact between the tongue base and the pharyngeal wall by increasing the pharyngeal wall contraction during swallowing (Fujiu-Kurachi et al 2014). Fujiu and Logemann (Fujiu and Logemann 1996) reported that young healthy male adults exhibited a greater increase in anterior bulge of the posterior pharyngeal wall during THS as compared to their swallows without this maneuver. The principle of overload holds that, in order to increase the force-generating ability of a muscle, that muscle must be taxed beyond its current capacity to respond. In THS, applied resistance on the pharyngeal wall corresponds to the restricted tongue movements during pharyngeal swallowing (Fujiu and Logemann 1996; FujiuKurachi et al 2014)
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