Effortful swallow
Effortful swallow has been studied in 5 papers since 2016: 5 observational studies in people; 1 in the past year. The newest paper, Dec 3, 2025: “Reliability of Lingual Swallow Pressure Measurements in Healthy Older and Younger Adults”.
5 papers study it6 findingsUpdated
“effortful swallows producing about 1.83 times more lingual pressure than regular swallows.”
1 of its findings points the other way.
- 3 independent labs in 2 countries
- 1 finding against
- Funders: Japan Society for the Promotion of Science and 2 more
- Humans5
What did studies of Effortful swallow find?
5Studies of Effortful swallow measured 5 outcomes; the most studied are laryngeal elevation peak velocity and distance (1 study), lingual swallow pressure (1) and tongue pressure (1).
Laryngeal elevation peak velocity and distance
no changein humans1upin humans1
1 study
Laryngeal elevation peak velocity and distance
no changein humans1upin humans1
Effortful swallow showed no clear effect on laryngeal elevation peak velocity and distance in humans (water bolus).
“when the bolus type was water, there was no difference in peak velocity or distance between normal swallow and swallowing maneuvers.”
Human trialwater bolusmales
Dysphagia
Effortful swallow increases laryngeal elevation peak velocity and distance in humans (saliva bolus).
“When the bolus type was saliva, peak velocity and distance increased more for swallowing maneuvers (effortful swallow, super-supraglottic swallow, and Mendelsohn maneuver) than for normal swallow.”
Human trialsaliva bolusmales
Dysphagia
Lingual swallow pressure
upin humans1
1 study
Lingual swallow pressure
upin humans1
Effortful swallow increases lingual swallow pressure in humans (healthy swallowing function) (about 1.83 times more).
“effortful swallows producing about 1.83 times more lingual pressure than regular swallows.”
Human trialhealthy swallowing functionn = 51
Reliability of Lingual Swallow Pressure Measurements in Healthy Older and Younger Adults
Journal of oral rehabilitation
Tongue pressure
upin humans1
1 study
Tongue pressure
upin humans1
Effortful swallow increases tongue pressure in humans during swallowing (R2 = .78, p < .001).
“Overall tongue pressure during ESs with tongue emphasis and with pharyngeal squeezing was greater than that during SSs (R2 = .78, p < .001).”
Human trialduring swallowing
American journal of speech-language pathology
Laryngeal elevation velocity
upin humans1
1 study
Laryngeal elevation velocity
upin humans1
Effortful swallow increases laryngeal elevation velocity in humans (swallowing maneuvers vs normal swallow).
“peak velocity was increased with swallowing maneuvers than with normal swallow”
Human trialswallowing maneuvers vs normal swallowmalesn = 10
Dysphagia
Hyolaryngeal movement
upin humans1
1 study
Hyolaryngeal movement
upin humans1
Effortful swallow increases hyolaryngeal movement in humans (healthy adults).
“Both types of effortful swallows showed greater hyolaryngeal movement than normal swallows.”
Human trialhealthy adultsn = 40
Hyolaryngeal Movement During Normal and Effortful Swallows Determined During Ultrasonography
Journal of speech, language, and hearing research : JSLHR