Techniques for Medications – Dysphagia

Tablets and pills are extremely difficult to swallow for large numbers of people. Dysphagia is most frequent in the old and the young. As we get older the functions of the saliva glands change which make it harder to swallow capsules and tablets. Studies have established that approximately 1/3 of all care home residents have problems with Dysphagia which makes caring for their health and well-being more difficult and time-consuming. The problems Dysphagia brings about can be serious as it interferes with medicine management and also medication management if the patient has difficulties swallowing tablets. Whenever tablets are taken by mouth they can sometimes result in a blockage and lead to choking. Pills can also become caught in the throat which can lead to damage of the throat and also the medicine not being effectively dispersed round the body. Up till now the most widespread method of dealing with the problems that Dysphagia presents has been tablet crushing to make medication less difficult to swallow. Crushing tablets to make them easy to swallow may seem like a simple remedy to the problem of Dysphagia however it can result in a number of serious implications and also effect the effectiveness of the pill. Some tablets are sugar coated to make them taste better and while crushing them won’t change the way the capsule works it will make them taste very unpleasant. Tablets that have an enteric coating should really never be crushed before they are taken since the coating is designed to keep the tablet together within the stomach to either; protect the stomach from the medication, protect the medicine from the stomach or to release the medicine after it’s left the stomach. Fortunately help is on hand for people with Dysphagia and also the people who take care of them. There is now a larger range than ever before of liquid medicines that can be used orally and have the exact same effect as pills or capsules. Oral liquid medicine was created to replace a variety of drugs particularly those found in the management of endocrine system and cardio-vascular system conditions. Liquid medicines possess a number of advantages over other forms of medicines not least of which is the fact that they are a great deal easier to take for men and women suffering from Dysphagia.