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Objective. Anecdotal evidence shows that the Shaker exercise and its modifications improve pharyngeal muscle contraction. However, there is no experimental evidence for the same. Thus, the present study examined the effect of modified Shaker exercise on the amplitude and duration of pharyngeal muscle contraction using cervical auscultation.Design. The study follows a cross-sectional study design, where 50 healthy individuals (23 males and 27 females) performed modified Shaker exercise and noneffortful swallow during 10 ml water swallowing. Swallow sound characteristics were analyzed with and without modified Shaker exercise using cervical auscultation.Results. The results of mixed ANOVA revealed significant differences for the amplitude of swallow sound with modified Shaker exercise (mean = 47.24, SD = 20.64) when compared to noneffortful swallow (mean = 28.19, SD = 10.26) atp<0.05. However, no significant difference was obtained for the swallow sound duration with (mean = 0.19, SD = 0.07) and without (mean = 0.18, SD = 0.07) modified Shaker exercise atp>0.05. No significant difference across the genders was also noted atp>0.05.Conclusion. The outcomes of the study suggest that modified Shaker exercise improves the amplitude of pharyngeal muscle contraction. Further studies are needed to confirm this finding using gold standard tools like videofluoroscopy.

Objective: Swallowing experts often implement techniques that alter the breath and swallowing mechanism. However, there is limited understanding regarding the effect of these techniques on the coordination of swallowing and respiration. Hence, the present study examined the respiratory–swallowing coordination in normal adults using tongue‑hold maneuver. Materials and Methods: The study follows a cross‑sectional study design, wherein 25 healthy individuals(8 males and 17 females) within the age range of 18–25 years performed 10 ml water swallow with and without tongue‑hold maneuver. Nasal respiratory flow was recorded, and the duration of the swallow apnea and the phase of respiratory pattern were analyzed. Results: The results of paired t‑test revealed a significant difference for the duration of swallow apnea with tongue‑hold maneuver (mean = 0.782, standard deviation [SD] =0.329) when compared to swallow without tongue‑hold maneuver (mean = 0.60972,SD = 0.188) at P < 0.05. Moreover, the phase of respiration bracketing the swallowing was predominantly expiration in both the swallows. Conclusion: The outcome of the study suggests that tongue‑hold maneuver improves the duration of swallow apnea.

Background: Aging larynx can cause changes in the voice. Knowledge about the normal changes in voice parameters is important in differentiating it from pathological voices. This study is a preliminary investigation on the age related changes in the parameters of voice in geriatric normal subjects, which has been scarcely reported in the Indian literature. Materials and Methods: Our study focused on the changing acoustic parameters of voice due to aging in normal geriatric subjects. The acoustic parameters of males and females with normal voice between the age groups of 60 to 80 were studied. 20 subjects in each category (male and female) were included in the study. All the subjects were taken after clearance from ENT to rule out any vocal pathology. The parameters taken were fundamental frequency, formants (f1, f2), jitter and shimmer. Results and Discussion: Our study shows that there are not any significant changes in the acoustic parameters either in males or in females across the age of 60 years to 80 years. However when compared to adult norms (18-25 yrs) the acoustic values are showing a difference both in males as well as in females in fundamental frequency. Comparison was also done between males and females between the age group of 60 to 80 years. Males differed from females significantly for the parameters of fundamental frequency and formant frequencies (f1 and f2 ) only and not for the parameters of jitter and shimmer.