Speech therapy: An Individual Therapy For Head And Throat Cancer Survivors

Head and neck cancer and its treatment frequently cause changes in both speech and swallowing, which affect the patient's quality of life and ability to function in society. After treatment for head and neck cancer, people generally face swallowing problems, food or liquids spilling from the mouth,  food sticking in the mouth, and other similar problems. The exact nature and severity of the post-treatment depends on the location of the tumor, the choice of treatment and the availability and use of speech and swallowing therapy during the first 3  months of treatment.

A speech pathologist is one who can help and educate your family about ways to minimize the effects of head and neck cancer and its treatment. Because cancer and its treatment often affect the throat cancer survivors' ability to talk and eat, the speech pathologist evaluates speech and swallowing difficulties, and provides the individual speech therapy as needed.

•   When to call your speech pathologist

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    Feeling any difficulties in swallowing
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   Unable to use your voice properly
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   You have a gurgle or wet sounding voice after swallowing

You clear your throat while eating  A speech pathologist at The Royans Institute for Non-Surgical Voice Repair helps post stroke survivors understand the structures and functions involved in eating and talking. A speech-language pathologist can evaluate your swallowing function, identify areas of weakness and causes of the swallowing difficulties. 

Assessing your difficulties you may already have with talking and eating, they teach you exercises and strategies to help you maintain or regain the ability to talk and eat without any difficulties.