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Speech and Swallowing Rehabilitation

At Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University, our team of speech-language pathologists play a crucial role in supporting individuals who have undergone therapy for head and neck cancer.

Patient being evaluated by a speech pathologist

Your Journey to Recovery

We focus on enhancing your communication and swallowing abilities, emphasizing a collaborative and patient-centered approach.

A head and neck cancer diagnosis can significantly affect your ability to communicate and swallow. Treatments, such as surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, may cause changes in your speech, voice, and swallowing functions. In these times, a speech-language pathologist becomes an invaluable partner on the road to your recovery.

Speech-language pathology is a specialized field that focuses on diagnosing and treating communication and swallowing disorders. Our speech-language pathologists are highly trained rehabilitation professionals who work closely with individuals across the lifespan to address a wide range of challenges related to speech, language, voice and swallowing disorders.

Rediscovering Your Voice

Our team conducts a comprehensive assessment to understand the unique challenges you may be facing with communication and swallowing. Together, we establish realistic and personalized therapy goals based on your needs and goals of care, focusing on:

Communication Rehabilitation

Our speech-language pathologists may provide targeted exercises and techniques to help you communicate effectively. Our efforts include improving articulation, pitch and resonance to help restore natural and effective communication.

We are also here to assist with conditions such as:

  • Trismus: Decreased jaw opening can be a result of head and neck cancer treatment. It can impact your ability to speak clearly and also eat and drink.
  • Speech and Articulation Changes: Treatment may result in weakness of some of the muscles that are important for articulation.
  • Voice Restoration: For some individuals with advanced cancers in the larynx (voice box), patients may require a different method of communication such as an electrolarynx or voice prosthesis.

Swallowing Rehabilitation

Head and neck cancer treatments can impact swallowing function either temporarily or at times more permanently. Our team develops tailored exercises and strategies to improve your swallowing safety and efficiency. In collaboration with our registered dietitians, diet modifications and adaptive techniques are implemented to ensure proper nutrition and hydration.

Procedures our speech-language pathologists perform as part of swallow rehabilitation, treatment planning or diet modification include:

  • Modified Barium Swallow Study: Swallow evaluation under X-ray to look at the muscles of the mouth, throat and esophagus.
  • Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing: A swallow evaluation in which an endoscope (camera) is inserted through the nose to look at the throat while swallowing food and/or liquid.

Enhancing Your Quality of Life

Working with our speech-language pathologists can significantly enhance your overall quality of life by restoring your functional communication and swallowing abilities. Reestablishing these abilities is key to maintaining social connections and regaining confidence in your ability to communicate and maximize functional eating and drinking.

Our team also provides you with emotional support by addressing the psychological impact of communication and eating challenges. They will educate you and your loved ones about the rehabilitation process, fostering a sense of empowerment and understanding.