[Dysphagia] e stim

[aabrahamson at bethsholomcampus.com (Abrahamson, Amy)]

Regarding the posting of e stim for swallowing:
 
I work in LTC (15 yrs) as well and I was a big skeptic about e stim
until I learned about it, researched it and went to the course .
All I can say so far  ...it works.  I have been using Vital Stim (e
stim) for only 6 weeks  (daily mon - fri) and have helped 2 pt's become
PO and no longer need TF's. I have also been able to d/c another pt's
thickened liquids when nothing else worked . Sometimes traditional tx
techniques don't work. Why wouldn't you want another tx method in your"
bag of tricks". It does not work on everyone  and Vital Stim does not
claim it does.  It's another tx method that can help.
Regarding Irene's response about placement of electrodes...there are
actually 5 different electrode placements.
The MBS interpretation is important..why?....to determine why the
aspiration is occurring.. 
Why not go to the course!!   Even if I had not received "certification"
at the course...it was still one of the best courses I have been to in a
long time.
Before I went to the course, several family members asked if I knew
about "e stim" so I could use it on their mother or father who are still
NPO.  It bothered me as an SLP to say "no.. its controversial and I'm
not sure if it really does what its suppose to do".
If it were your parent, what would you do?
I know Vital Stim has been discussed many times on this list serve. Why
don't all you skeptics out there just go to the course and check it out.