Tips for Improving Communication in People with Parkinson's Disease

Parkinson's disease, or PD, is a special type of health condition that affects an individual's nervous system to a great extent. It is caused due to the loss of substantia nigra, which are responsible for generating dopamine chemicals in the brain. Because of this reason, the people who are suffering from this rare condition can lose their movement and speech abilities.

As a progressive disease, PD cannot be cured at all. Hence, you might not be able to prevent its prevalent symptoms, such as voice issues, in any way. But, you can definitely slow the process by following some specific exercising procedures and taking medications. Besides, you can improve your communicational skills through some tips as well.

Here, we will be discussing a few of them. So, make sure to check the whole write-up in a proper manner.

1. How common are speech and voice difficulties in people with Parkinson’s disease?

Speech problems or difficulties are quite prevalent among people who have Parkinson's disease. A report in this context has revealed that around 80% to 90% of individuals tend to develop these issues while coping with the ailment.

However, these conditions usually develop over time and, thus, can be delayed through medication. Moreover, they also occur during the later stages of the illness.

So, if you do sense it, then make sure to visit your speech therapy specialist in delhi as soon as possible to begin your treatment courses quickly.

2. Why do people with Parkinson’s disease have speech difficulties?

Parkinson's disease is a form of progressive nervous system disease that can affect the nerves from all over your body. It usually begins by damaging your motor nerves, which, in turn, affects your movement.

However, if it is left untreated, then the disease might progress and inflict damage to your gullet muscles as well. Due to this reason, you will have difficulties while using your throat and creating any sound at all.

The areas, which can be affected by Parkinson’s disease, are –

• Throat
• Larynx or voicebox
• Facial muscles
• Respiratory muscles
• Tongue, roof of your mouth, and lips

3. If I have Parkinson’s disease, what kind of speech and voice problems may I experience?

In this case, your voice might sound somewhat monotonous while lacking the natural ups and downs of the voice. But, in some cases, you may also start talking too rapidly and keep stuttering while talking. Nonetheless, you may not be able to show your emotions through your conversation in both aspects.

Because of the difficulty in bringing the sound out from the throat, many people also try to scream when talking. In a few instances, the voice of an individual might seem somewhat low-pitched as well. Sometimes, the sound coming out of your throat may seem pretty hoarse and breathy.

In the later stages of the disease, you might also start slurring or mumbling while talking. Moreover, many people also tend to trail off or stop abruptly before ending their sentence. It usually happens because peoples are suffering from PD usually find it difficult to use the right words while speaking.

In some cases, you can have trouble while producing a clean and clear sound through your voice. Tremors, while talking are yet another prominent symptom of this nervous condition.

4. What type of healthcare professional helps people with speech problems from Parkinson’s disease?

Speech-language & Speech Therapist in Indirapuram will be the obvious choices for you if you are having trouble while talking. Please make sure to choose someone expert of PD who can provide the specialized Lee Silverman Voice treatment for you. It can improve your stuttering issues quite a lot and enhance your voice quality as well.

Besides this, they will also be able to help you with:

• They can teach you different communication techniques, which, in turn, can save your energy for a prolonged period. It might include non-verbal skills as well.
• They might help you to learn different exercises that might improve the strength of your facial muscles.
• They will proffer you with some assistive devices and tools to boost your talking and voice producing capability.

5. If I have speech and voice problems, how can I maintain and improve my communication?

Even if you are suffering from voice issues due to PD, you can still improve your condition to some extent. Here are some tips that can help you out in this aspect!

• If you want to have a conversation with someone, then make sure you have to to do so in a quiet place. If a TV or radio is running near you, then be sure to switch it off as well.
• Try to use shorter and crisper phrases. Trying to produce longer sentences might affect your already-damaged thinking process and prompt you to say everything wrongly.
• If you wish to talk with someone for more than a few minutes, then make sure to restrain yourself from talking before that. Otherwise, the fatigue might affect your speaking ability pretty prominently.
• Make sure you always drink a lot of water and keep your throat properly hydrated. Try to avoid alcoholic or caffeinated beverages as much as possible.
• While talking, you should always maintain an upright and straight posture. Make sure to lift your neck a little bit to enhance the airflow in your lungs.
• You may also use an amplifier if you feel that your voice has become relatively low.

6. What alternative communication devices and tips can help with my voice and speech problems?

If the previously-mentioned techniques are not working for you, you can follow the below-mentioned ones.

• Speech Enhancers: There are several devices available in the market that can improve your speech's sound through voice synthesizers. If you have become too much soft-spoken, then you can use them for your purpose to improve the overall quality of speech.
• TTY Telephone: With it, you can type everything that you wish to say and, the relay operator will say it for you through an integrated telephone.
• Amplification: Besides these, you may also use the portable amplifiers to enhance your voice pitch and talk more confidently.

Conclusion

So, these are a few tips that might help you to cater to your voice problems more proficiently. However, only following them isn’t going to be enough for you. Besides, you should also make sure to do the voice exercises as well to improve your condition more prominently.