Silversmith2 the whole point of a modified diet is to prevent him from choking at all, what exactly is he eating, how is his diet modified? He should be sitting up for his meals and carefully fed with slow small bites, with some people it is helpful to have a sip of water between each mouthful - if there are problems with liquids like water then they will need to be thickened too. Consistently aspirating food can lead to pneumonia, you really need to work with your health care providers to get on top of things.
I am looking for the same answer. We have had the swallow studies, we have modified the diet. The question is - what do you do for them WHEN they are coughing
I know that if it looks like they are choking-coughing (and bed ridden) roll them on their side in the bed and pat/smack their back strongly (as they can tolerate) to help them cough out what ever is stuck. If it continues, is bad, they are getting blue lips etc, (call 911) and try to do a Heimlich maneuver on them from behind while they are laying on their side in bed. (again being mindful of their age/condition so that you don't accidentally cause a broken bone/rib)
But what do you do when they are coughing trying to get something up, (they aren't choking). We sit him up straight as possible, but what else can be done during the episode?
When it is all over, we do use a half dose of cough syrup to help relieve any irritation and control 'left over' coughing after the episode.
This is JUST what I've been looking for - a really good, clear description of how swallowing works. There is an animated diagram halfway down the page which is brilliant.
Once you've watched that, it is easy to see how many factors can go just slightly wrong and mess up the whole process.
So, Berta, thinking about your mother:
has she already suffered some aspiration problems and now has an irritation or an infection in her lung?
is she choking or spluttering when she tries to eat or drink?
I'm just wondering what it is exactly that you're trying to relieve.
If it's the second, have you already been advised to modify her diet and thicken her drinks? This is about prevention, rather than curing symptoms, but it might be worth doing anyway.
Please let us know what has happened so far and what your mother's medical and care professionals are suggesting, if you'd like to.
Berta, my Dad had a cough related to food/liquids going into his lungs. As mentioned prior, one has to cough to bring up what is in the lungs. There is some type of physical therapy that can be done, but it depends on what hospital tests show.
I see from your profile that your Mom is 90. My Dad was 95, and usually what happens is that the tube going from the throat down to the stomach starts to narrow.
The aspiration caught us all by surprised, we thought Dad was just doing his usual coughing over the years when he ate too fast.... [sigh].
Swallow evaluation needs to be done. This can easily lead to aspiration pneumonia in an elder. Pneumonia, of any type, used to be called "The old person's friend" because it ushered them to heaven quick.
We have had the swallow studies, we have modified
the diet.
The question is - what do you do for them WHEN they are coughing
I know that if it looks like they are choking-coughing (and bed ridden) roll them on their side in the bed and pat/smack their back strongly (as they can tolerate) to help them cough out what ever is stuck.
If it continues, is bad, they are getting blue lips etc, (call 911) and try to do a Heimlich maneuver on them from behind while they are
laying on their side in bed. (again being mindful of their age/condition
so that you don't accidentally cause a broken bone/rib)
But what do you do when they are coughing trying
to get something up, (they aren't choking).
We sit him up straight as possible, but what else can be done during the episode?
When it is all over, we do use a half dose of cough syrup to help relieve
any irritation and control 'left over' coughing after the episode.
https://www.physio-pedia.com/Feeding_and_the_Swallow_Mechanism
Once you've watched that, it is easy to see how many factors can go just slightly wrong and mess up the whole process.
So, Berta, thinking about your mother:
has she already suffered some aspiration problems and now has an irritation or an infection in her lung?
is she choking or spluttering when she tries to eat or drink?
I'm just wondering what it is exactly that you're trying to relieve.
If it's the second, have you already been advised to modify her diet and thicken her drinks? This is about prevention, rather than curing symptoms, but it might be worth doing anyway.
Please let us know what has happened so far and what your mother's medical and care professionals are suggesting, if you'd like to.
Please take him to his PCP & get an order for a swallowing study and an evaluation from a Speech Therapist to assess his needs.
Agree that you don’t want to suppress a cough as this is the body’s means to clear the airway.
Aspiration on can lead to pneumonia. Please have him evaluated ASAP.
I see from your profile that your Mom is 90. My Dad was 95, and usually what happens is that the tube going from the throat down to the stomach starts to narrow.
The aspiration caught us all by surprised, we thought Dad was just doing his usual coughing over the years when he ate too fast.... [sigh].