Home Exercises
Swallowing exercises are not one-size-fits-all. The right exercise depends on exactly which part of the swallow needs support, which is why the resources on this page are grouped by what each category is meant to address, rather than listed as a generic exercise dump.
Please read before starting any exercise
The wrong exercise for the wrong problem can waste effort at best and worsen symptoms at worst. These resources are meant to help you understand and follow a program your speech-language pathologist has already recommended, not to replace an individualized evaluation. If you have not been evaluated yet, or a current exercise no longer feels right, that is worth bringing up with your speech-language pathologist before continuing on your own.
Strength and Range of Motion
Targets weakness or limited movement in the tongue, lips, and jaw, the muscles responsible for chewing food and moving it to the back of the mouth. These exercises help when a swallow is breaking down early, before the swallow itself even begins.
Tongue-Strengthening Exercises for Dysphagia
UMass Memorial Health
Four tongue-strengthening movements with clear repetition guidance, useful for building baseline tongue strength.
Resistance Exercises for the Tongue
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Pushes the tongue against resistance in five directions to build the strength needed for safe chewing and bolus control.
Tongue Range of Motion Exercises
University of Mississippi Medical Center
Focuses on how far and how precisely the tongue can move, a separate skill from raw strength.
Swallowing Exercises: Lip-Closure/Lip-Seal Exercises
University of Rochester Medicine
Addresses lip seal, which affects both keeping food and liquid in the mouth and forming an airtight seal during a swallow.
Airway Protection and Swallow Timing
Targets how well and how quickly the airway closes during a swallow, the mechanism that keeps food and liquid out of the lungs. These exercises are aimed at building the strength and coordination behind that split-second protective response.
Swallowing Exercises: How to Do Larynx-Lifting Exercises
Johns Hopkins Medicine
Step-by-step instructions for the Mendelsohn maneuver, which trains how long and how high the larynx lifts during a swallow.
Speech and Swallowing Exercises (Shaker Exercise, PDF)
Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah Health
Includes detailed instructions for the Shaker exercise, which strengthens the muscles that pull the larynx forward and up.
Supraglottic Swallowing Method (PDF)
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center
Explains a breath-holding technique used to close the airway more deliberately before and during a swallow.
Swallowing Strategies (PDF)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Covers the effortful swallow and chin tuck, two strategies frequently combined with airway-protection exercises.
Condition-Specific Programs
Some diagnoses come with their own structured, research-backed exercise programs rather than a mix-and-match approach. These resources are organized around the diagnoses seen most often in adult and geriatric dysphagia care.
Five Questions and Answers About Swallowing Difficulties After a Stroke
University of Utah Health
An academic health system's plain-language answers on why stroke affects swallowing, what recovery looks like, and how exercise fits into stroke-specific rehabilitation.
Speech & Swallowing in Parkinson's
Parkinson's Foundation
A national Parkinson's nonprofit's fact sheet on how Parkinson's specifically affects speech and swallowing, and why consistent home practice and periodic re-evaluation matter for a progressive condition.
Caregiver's Guide to Dysphagia in Dementia
National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders
Covers how common swallowing difficulty is across dementia stages, the causes specific to dementia, and mealtime strategies caregivers can use day to day.
Pre-Radiation Swallowing Exercise Packet (PDF)
Stanford Health Care, Head and Neck Surgery
A prehabilitation program for head and neck cancer patients, started before radiation to help preserve swallowing function afterward.
Swallowing Exercises
National Foundation of Swallowing Disorders
A library of 14 exercises with instructional videos from a patient advocacy nonprofit, paired with a clear reminder that exercises should only be done under a physician's or SLP's explicit guidance.
Staying Consistent
Most exercise programs only work with regular practice, often daily, over several weeks. Doing the same exercises in the same order each time helps avoid skipping any of them, and a simple log of when exercises were completed makes it easier to track progress at follow-up visits. Stop and check in if an exercise causes pain, or if something that used to feel manageable suddenly does not.
This page is for general education and does not replace an individualized evaluation or exercise program. If you would like guidance on which exercises are right for you, please reach out to your speech-language pathologist or healthcare provider.