| 1. Chin Down Posture |
- Helpful for those who have tongue base retraction issues;
- Mechanism of change widens the valleculae, allowing the valleculae to contain the bolus in event of pharyngeal delay.
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| 2. Chin Up Posture |
- Helpful for those who have oral tongue propulsion problems;
- Aids in gaining adequate lingual pressure to drive the food or liquid out of the mouth and into the pharynx.
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| 3. Head Turn (left or right) |
- Involves rotating the head to the side that is damaged;
- Bolus is then directed through the “normal” safe side.
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| 4. Head Tilt (left or right) |
- Head is tilted toward the stronger side, to promote the flow of food and liquid through that side.
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| 5. Lying Down |
- Effective in those with posterior pharyngeal wall contraction or reduced laryngeal elevation with resulting residue and subsequent aspiration after swallowing.
- Residual or pooling of food or liquid in the pharynx is less able to enter the airway as gravity pulls the bolus towards the posterior pharyngeal wall and in more easily moved through to the esophagus (Drake et al., 1997; Rasley et al., 1993).
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