[Editors note: THE DREADED “YOUR NEW NORM” is a two-part series written by Jim Rose. This is the second part of the series. Part 1 can be viewed by clicking here.]
As I became more physically fit I was sent to a physical therapist named Mike Vito. This young man was very adapt and thorough at his job. He pressed me to seek answers from my surgeon that he couldn’t find in my surgical reports. It turned out that the nerve that made my rotor cuff work had to be severed in order to place my pectoral muscle in my throat. With this knowledge Mike designed a lifelong exercise program that would help me regain use of my right arm.
Oropharyngeal dysphagia (OPD) is common and costly. In order to improve quality of life for patients and costs to society, better treatments than currently available are needed. The author hypothesized that manual control of the upper esophageal sphincter (UES) is possible by pulling the larynx directly forward with anterior traction on the cricoid cartilage. The purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the effectiveness of manual control of the UES as a possible therapy for OPD.