Effects of anterior tongue strengthening exercises on posterior tongue strength in healthy young adults

Abstract

Objective: The aim of the present study was to investigate whether anterior tongue muscle strengthening exercises can affect the strength of posterior tongue muscles.

Design: Eleven healthy subjects (20.6 ± 1.2 years) were included. The subjects exercised by pushing the anterior tongue to the palate 30 times, three times a day, 3 days a week for 8 weeks. The exercise intensity was set at 60% of maximum tongue pressure (MTP) in the first week and 80% of MTP for the remainder of training. After the completion of training, MTP measurements were continued every month for another 3 months to evaluate whether training effects were sustained.

Results: MTP was significantly increased after 8 weeks of training compared with before training. No significant differences were seen between MTP immediately after completion of training and MTP 1-3 months after completion of training. However, MTP was significantly higher 1-3 months after completion of training than before training.

Conclusions: The present study showed significant increases in both anterior and posterior MTPs by anterior tongue muscle strengthening exercises. In the future, a database on tongue muscle strengthening exercises in elderly persons, patients with dysphagia, etc. will need to be generated, with the aim of preventing frailty.

Keywords: Dysphagia; Exercise; Swallowing; Tongue pressure; Tongue strength.