Swallowing Exercises for the base of the tongue in English y Espanol.

I apologize for so much speech related stuff all at once, but it's what I've been working on.  Thanks to the speech therapists at University Hospital for the orginal English exercises.  These are mostly for people that have had strokes, tumors, brain injuries, etc. and should be tailored to the individual needs of... an individual by a qualified speech therapist.  If anyone has good pictures for any of these exercises, let me know! 

Base de la Lengua

1.            Presión de la lengua: Abre la boca ámpliamente, presionar la lengua con fuerza contra la parte de atras de los dientes de arriba por tres segundos.  Relaje y repite diez veces.

2.            Sostenido de lengua de Masako: Ponga la punta de la lengua livianamente entre los dientes de al frente.  Haga un tragado con fuerza, pero no permita que la lengua se vaya hacia atras.

3.            Pase de lengua: pase la lengua con fuerza contra el techo de la boca del frente hacia atras diez veces. 

4.            Tragar Supraglotica: Aguante respiración y haga fuerza como si fuera a levantar algo pesado, trague duro, y entonces toza. 

5.            Maniobra Mendelsohn: Moje la boca con una esponja o use un pedazo de hielo si no hay demasiado peligro de aspiración.  Comience a tragar tan duro como pueda.  Siga apretando los músculos de la lengua y la garganta mientras que la manzana de Adán quede alto en la garganta por dos segundos.  Entonces relaje la garganta y complete la acción de tragar. 

6.            Tragar duro/con fuerza: Moje la boca con una esponja o use un pedazo de hielo si no hay demasiado peligro de aspiración.  Baje la quijada hacia abajo, trague duro, toza, y trague duro otra vez. 

Base of Tongue

1.      Tongue press or Penny press:  Keeping mouth open wide, press tongue hard for three sec.  against back of upper teeth.  Relax and repeat 10 times.

2.      Masako Tongue hold:  Hold tongue tip lightly between teeth.  Do not allow your tongue to go back into your mouth; now swallow hard!

3.      Tongue sweep or Peanut butter scraper:  Scrape imaginary peanut butter from roof of mouth by pushing tongue hard from front to back 10 times.

4.      Supraglottic swallow:  Hold breath, bear down, swallow hard, then cough.

5.      Mendelsohn Maneuver:  Swab mouth or use ice chip if safe for ice.   Begin to swallow as hard as you can. Continue to squeeze your tongue and throat muscles while keeping your Adam’s apple up high in your throat for two seconds.  Then relax your throat and complete the swallow.

6.      Hard/forceful swallow: Swab mouth (or use once ice chip if safe).

         Tuck chin down, swallow hard, cough and swallow hard again.

What is brain freeze?

First, an analogous... analogy.  There are signs on most bridges warning of ice.  The reason for this is that, while regular roadways are protected from fast changes of temperature because these quick changes don't penetrate the ground very quickly, on a bridge, both the top and the bottom are exposed to the air, so they will be colder and freeze faster than roads insulated by the ground. 

Image from zachronen.co.il

The mouth is similar with regards to "brain freeze."  Obviously, the brain doesn't freeze.  The picture above shows a lot of internal areas of the head and neck.  Between the oral and nasal cavities is the hard palate.  When you're eating cold foods or liquids, the first part of each swallow includes the tongue pushing the bolus (food or liquid that's chewed and ready to swallow) against the hard palate and back towards the back of the throat.  Since the hard palate has cold items against its bottom side, and air passing through the nose on the top, it is not well protected against temperature changes. 

So it gets cold.  And this is what a "brain freeze" really is.  I don't know of any advice to get rid of it.  I close my mouth and keep my tongue against the hard palate, which should provide some insulation and help to normalize its temperature faster. 

To prevent brain freeze I have two suggestions.  1) Don't eat or drink cold things.  and 2) If you do eat cold things, keep them moving around in your mouth until they are warm before swallowing them.