Tongue-strengthening exercises to support swallowing and speech in people with ALS
Tests a tongue exercise program for swallowing and speech in adults with ALS.
Plain-language title generated from the registry record
Registry title: Tongue-strengthening Exercises in People With ALS.
Key facts
- Where
- Davie, United StatesSee the site
Could this be for you?
Answer for yourself. This is not a decision: only the study team can say whether you can take part.
- Are you between 18 and 99 years old?
Source: NCT07295990, who can take part
Where in United States
- Nova Southeastern UniversityDavie, United StatesTaking people
Questions to ask the study team
- How often do I need to come in, and for how long each time?
- Are travel costs paid?
- Can I keep my own doctor?
- What happens if I want to stop?
Trial details
- Who runs it
- Nova Southeastern University
- Trial code
- NCT07295990
- Record updated
- 12 August 2026
- Original description
This study is testing a tongue exercise program for people living with ALS to see if it can help support speech and swallowing. All participants will receive the treatment, and researchers will measure changes over time by comparing each person's results to their own earlier results.Read full original descriptionShow less
The Impact of Dysphagia Exercise on Oropharyngeal Swallowing Function in Patients With ALS
This study is testing a tongue exercise program for people living with ALS to see if it can help support speech and swallowing. All participants will receive the treatment, and researchers will measure changes over time by comparing each person's results to their own earlier results.
People who join the study will have two in-person visits and four weekly telehealth sessions with a speech-language pathologist. During these sessions, participants will practice tongue resistance exercises, complete speech and swallowing tasks, and answer surveys about their experience. They will also use a small device at home to measure tongue strength and swallowing.
The exercise program involves pressing the tongue against a device several times a day, five days per week, for five weeks. Researchers want to learn if this program is safe, practical, and helpful for people with ALS.
Inclusion: Diagnosis of possible, probable, or definite ALS (El-Escorial Revisited); Lingual exercises naïve; Impaired lingual strength generation compared to normative data; EAT-10 score <3.
Exclusion: Other concomitant neurogenic disorder; Recent oral surgery other than routine dental surgery; Stroke; Head and neck cancer; Head injury; Tracheostomy; Unable to generate isometric lingual pressure on lingual manometer; Participation in another clinical trial intervention that may confound results; NPO (nothing by mouth); Anarthric.