1. Patients are too sick to begin Respiratory Muscle Strength Training (RMST) in the acute medicine setting: If you’re sick or weak… You Need Rehab! Chat it up! We are masters of communication, after all. Address questions, concerns, and misconceptions regarding the use of RMST. Get 15 seconds of fame on rounds, and make it…
Article Highlights Applying a short-term EMST program may improve sleep quality but also reduce sleep apnea symptoms in patients with mild to moderate OSA. This study demonstrates that when patients with mild-to-moderate OSA participate in a 5-week EMST program, their sleep apnea severity, sleep quality, and respiratory muscle strength are improved. Reference Kuo, Yu-Chi, et…
Research supports the use of respiratory muscle training (RMT) to improve ventilator weaning outcomes, swallow safety, and cough strength (Pitts et al., 2009; Elkins & Dentice, 2015). The use of a no- leak speaking valve, such as the Passy Muir ®Valve (PMV®), allows patients with tracheostomies, even those who are ventilator-dependent, to participate in expiratory…
Introduction Battling a new and unknown Covid-19 virus over the last year resulted in challenges across healthcare settings. Patients were left with severe debility following prolonged admissions requiring multiple medical interventions. New York City (NYC) was an epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak during the spring of 2020. Therapists around the country were faced with the…
Respiratory muscle strength training (RMST) is becoming widely used as a treatment modality in the field of speech-language pathology (SLP) for patients with impairments in speech, voice, cough, and/or swallowing. The primary goal of RMST is to increase the force-generating capacity of the inspiratory (inspiratory muscle strength training; IMST) and expiratory muscles (expiratory muscle strength…
COVID-19 Background A unique virus that is transmitted person to person, COVID-19 has spurred a rapid global response in search of methods for preventing, testing, and treating the acute symptoms as well as managing the long-term effects of post-COVID care. Symptoms may appear 2-14 days after exposure and include shortness of breath, cough, sore throat,…
If your spouse or partner snores and you’re suffering from lack of sleep, then you’re not alone! According to a sleep association report, bed partners of snorers often only get just 3-5 hours of sleep per night. Often, the snorer also doesn’t get good quality sleep. Anecdotally, users of EMST150™ are reporting that snoring is…
Article Highlights Conducted to identify the effects of expiratory muscle strength training on swallowing function in acute stroke patients with dysphagia Stroke is known to be a common cause of neurological diseases and disorders that cause swallowing disorder Acute stroke patients with dysphagia were monitored and examined to determine the effects of EMST. The specific…
Article Highlights The study assessed the effect of daily inspiratory muscle strength training (IMT) on sleep and cardiovascular function in adults unable to use continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) therapy Subjects were randomly assigned to placebo or inspiratory muscle strength training Subjects in each group performed 5 min of training each day for 6 w.…
Article Highlights Twenty-nine participants with voice disorders who are working in a hospital and who are using their voice for more than 4 hours per day were recruited. Study group: EMST 3 days per week and involved performing 25 expiratory exercises (five cycles, each comprising five breaths) for 5 weeks Control group: NO intervention All…
Article Highlights Examine whether high-intensity home-based RMST delivered more frequently and for a longer duration would increase the strength and endurance of the respiratory muscles, reduce dyspnea and respiratory complications, and improve walking capacity post-stroke. High-intensity home-based respiratory muscle training was effective in increasing the strength and endurance of the respiratory muscles and reducing dyspnea…
Article Highlights First report of EMST intervention after supracricoid partial laryngectomy (SCPL). The clinical pilot study was undertaken to determine the safety and efficacy of a 4-week treatment program Most participants found the device easy to use and beneficial Demonstrated improvement in two measures: Increase in peak cough flow and decrease on the Dyspnea index…
Article Highlights Expiratory strengthening may be a novel therapeutic target to improve airway protection in this population Data suggest functional improvements in swallowing safety in chronic radiation-associated aspirators Maximum Expiratory Pressures (MEP) were reduced in chronic radiation-associated aspirators Reference Hutcheson, Katherine A., et al. “Expiratory Muscle Strength Training for Radiation-Associated Aspiration after Head and Neck…
Article Highlights A mild‐to‐moderate intensity, EMST program was well tolerated in individuals with early ALS. The program resulted in significant improvements in Maximum Expiratory Pressures (MEP) and oral intake, as well as maintenance of peak cough flow and swallowing function. Further studies are warranted to validate these findings and to investigate the long‐term impact of…
Introduction The relationship between cough and swallowing function is undeniable. Although cough function has only recently garnered significant research attention in the field of dysphagia management, it has long played a significant role in the clinical practice of the Speech-Language Pathologist (SLP). For example, when we as SLPs complete a clinical bedside swallowing evaluation we…
Early on in my career, I was drawn to the wondrous world of swallowology. I have always been amazed with the intricacy of the neural muscular underpinnings of deglutition and the power of neural plasticity through rehabilitation. Evidence of improved swallow function with application of exercise physiology and neural plasticity principles has been shown in…