I saw a TV show the other day where they were showing an exercise to help in being able to swallow food easier. This exercise was for patients that had had throat surgery and the muscles became weak after the surgery. It is to strengthen the swallowing muscles. I do not know if it will help for KD but it is worth the try.

There are 2 exercises;

1. Stick your toung out and bit down slowly on the tounge to hold it in the out position. then swallow 10 times while holding that tounge between the teeth. Do this numerous times a day.

2. make the sound EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE on and off and you will feel the neck and throat muscles stretch.

They reported good results on patients that had swallowing problems with food.

Terry,
There are many exercises to improve swallowing. Difficulty in swallowing is known by the medical term "dysphagia", pronounced diss-FAY-ja, and it is caused by many conditions such as throat surgery, stroke, etc. If you do an Internet search on the words "dysphagia exercise" you will get many hits.

By far the best swallowing exercise, and the easiset to do, is called the "Shaker Exercise" named after the doctor who invented it. To do it, you lie flat on your back and then pick up your head and look at your toes. That will strengthen the throat muscles. There is an excellent explanation and video at
http://www.mcw.edu/display/docid26360.htm

I have done this exercise myself and have had very good results with improving swallowing and reducing larnygospasm ("dry drowning"). I recommend it to all KD patients who are having any difficulty with swallowing.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Dan,

Forgot to mention, there is an excellent list of swallowing / dysphagia exercises at
http://stroke.about.com/od/car...s/qt/swallowxrcs.htm

Note that page is intended for stroke patients, but the exercises work equally well for KD patients. Also note the Shaker Exercise is the first one on the list.

Dan, this is great. I appreciate you providing this link.