[Dysphagia] reduced sensation following CVA

[swlslp at yahoo.com (Sandi Lancaster)]

Hello all,
  
  I have a fairly young (40 something year old) CVA patient who reports  that he feels like he has "marbles" in his mouth when he speaks.   His intelligibility is quite good (greater than 95%), his oral motor  status is pretty good (ROM and strength are VERY mildly reduced), but  lo and behold when we look at sensation during his assessment, he has  very little sensation on the right side of his tongue. 
  
  He reports no dysphagia with food or liquids, although he notes he  finds his mouth filling with saliva at times.  (Perhaps b/c he  doesn't initially feel the saliva and therefore doesn't swallow it as  readily.)
  
  So my question is:  Is there anything at all that I can attempt  with him to increase his oral sensation?  I'm not talking about  compensatory strategies at meals - but to actually increase his  sensation? ( I feel like the answer is no, but I want to explore any  viable options.)
  
  Thanks in advance,
  
  Sandi
  


Sandi Lancaster, M.A. CCC-SLP
Speech-Language Pathologist
			
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