“The polite yawn is a patient-friendly, inexpensive and
effective method for restoring the sense of smell in patients
after laryngectomy, and the results persist in the long term.”
that didn’t improve their overall
sense of smell, so that, for example,
differences in smell when moving
from the living room to the kitchen
couldn’t be experienced.
Consequently they felt that they
had to re-apply the yawning
technique regularly to compensate.
On the positive side, it is felt that
the repeated application of a NAIM
technique can actually help the
patient to regain a greater and more
consistent ability to smell in the
long term.
It’s also interesting to note that
patients who had considered
themselves able to smell before
undertaking the procedure
did notice some significant
improvements. In particular they
experienced a heightened ability to
‘smell at will.’
The report reached the overall
conclusion that the polite yawn
is a “patient-friendly, inexpensive
and effective method for restoring
the sense of smell in patients after
laryngectomy, and the results persist
in the long term.” And to confirm that
really is the case, let’s pop forward a
few years.
24 THE VOICE | Summer 2013
Long-term improvements
The initial investigation into the
effectiveness of the polite yawn has
since been corroborated by various
follow-up studies. In particular, a
study to assess changes in olfaction,
health-related quality of life and
communicative ability, three
years after a NAIM intervention
(available to view in abstract here:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
pubmed/19640307) came to similar
conclusions. Thirty six months after
NAIM rehabilitation it was found
that of 18 patients, 14 of them
could be classed as fully able to
smell. Furthermore, in cases where
smelling ability increased, it was
found that it also contributed to a
better overall quality of life – reason
enough to give it a go.
An opportunity not to be sniffed at!
So, if you would like to try the polite
yawning method for yourself – and
we’d love to hear how you get on –
why not get in touch with your local
speech and language therapist.
They should be able to give you
some pointers. Good luck! ?