Northeast Speech-Language Pathology, PC/Northeast Mobile Swallow & Speech Services is a corporation providing speech, language, and dysphagia (swallowing) services to people of all ages. We service the immediate Capital Region, as well as facilities in Northern NY and Massachusetts. A unique quality of service we provide is an in-house instrumental exam for swallowing, known as Fiberoptic Endoscopic Evaluation of Swallowing (FEES). This exam can be done in the office or at the patient’s bedside. FEES utilizes a Fiberoptic endoscope, testing various consistencies (unaltered by barium), and no radiation. It provides an excellent bird’s eye view of the throat whereby the examiner can see the function of the swallow. Various techniques can be assessed, in order to determine the safest swallowing position, strategy, and consistency. It can be taped for the examiner’s review and the patient or caregiver’s education. This technique takes between 3 to 10 minutes.
Once a person is evaluated, a recommendation is made for food textures and liquid consistencies, compensatory strategies & recommendations for treatment (strengthening exercises, patient education strategies, etc).