Rick McAdoo, M.S., CCC-SLP is the Vice President of Ampcare

Ampcare’s Effective Swallowing Protocol (ESP™) is an FDA-cleared treatment for swallowing disorders uniting the benefits of neuromuscular electrical stimulation (NMES), proper postural strategies and a protocol of resistive effortful swallowing exercises.

If you are wondering what our approach to using ESP is about or how it might differ from other approaches, take a moment to look at the pictures posted here to see how we use ESP to facilitate the range of motion of the hyolaryngeal complex. It is similar to the Mendelsohn Maneuver, while providing a resistive exercise to the laryngeal vestibule to create the most effective effortful swallowing exercise you can offer your patients.

We use NMES to facilitate a sensorimotor contraction that creates hyoid elevation. Because of  anatomical inference (chain reaction), it can cause the following structures to move due to their attachment to the hyoid:

• Posterior tongue base retraction via the hyoglossus.
• Retroversion of the epiglottis via the hyo-epiglottic ligament
• Movement of the larynx/airway via the thyrohyoid ligament and membrane
• Decrease vallecular/pyriform sinus area due to the anterior superior movement
• Relaxation of the PES/UES due to the laryngeal excursion
• Eccentric contraction of the pharyngeal constrictors and laryngeal vestibule

There is robust background anecdotal evidence and more recently, peer-reviewed research upon which this course is based https://swallowtherapy.com/research/. In addition, there is a strong, after-seminar support group offered at no charge on Facebook and on our website, with seminar hands-on content posted in video format for you to review at any time.