Decreased ability to swallow and blink
Parkinson’s disease makes the muscles in a person’s mouth and eyes weaker and there is difficulty with blinking and swallowing. The muscles in your jaw and mouth which help in chewing the food get weaker due to Parkinson’s disease and as a result food starts to stuck in throat. If you are facing trouble or difficulty with swallowing, it is important to seek help from your doctor immediately. In addition, a speech pathologist can also help in teaching you techniques to aid the swallowing of liquids and foods more easily.
In the later stages of Parkinson’s disease, the involuntary movements like eye muscles movement face weakness and a person is unable to blink due to the rigidity of the eye muscles. The trouble with swallowing can increase the chances of choking on your food and also allows liquids or food to leak into lungs and result in pneumonia. However, some people having Parkinson’s disease start producing either too little or too much saliva. Too little saliva production can make it uncomfortable to swallow foods while excess saliva can cause drooling.