Dysphagia is best assessed and treated under the direction of a speech-language pathologist. The swallowing process is divided into four stages. This stage is voluntarily controlled. Preparatory phase results in the food being chewed up and formed into a ball or bolus. Lingual phase results in the tongue moving the bolus to the back of the mouth.
Liquids usually descend in three to five seconds, and solids in eight to twenty seconds.
As this stage ends, the oral preparatory stage may begin again. General warning signs indicating swallowing problems include Coughing before, during or after swallowing food, liquids or medications Need to swallow three or four times with each bolus Frequent throat clearing Hoarse, breathy voice or gargly breathing Feeling of something caught or sticking in throat Drooling Pocketing of food in mouth Repetitive rocking of tongue in mouth. General warning signs of aspiration pneumonia include elevated temperature and fatigue. It is possible for an older person to have pneumonia without the elevated temperature. Aspiration, which refers to foreign materials taken into the lungs, is the most serious health risk from dysphagia.