Physiotherapy & Physical Rehabilitation

Introduction: Drooling is considered as the unwanted dribbling of saliva from the mouth, which is considered common in children upto 15-18 months of age and considered abnormal if it continues after that with different severity and frequency and mostly encountered in children with neurological imapirement. Along with the articulation dysfunction, drooling impacts socialization, interpersonal relationships and integration into society for these patients. Regardless, of the aetiology and severity of drooling, it is estimated that 10-37.5% of children with cerebral palsy have drooling problem significant enough to interfere with the daily life. And most of the patients with drooling are considered to have problems affecting the head and neck positioning, typically adopting a head down positon, open mouthed attitude, everted lower lip all leading to drooling. Objective: To validate the effectiveness of kinesiotaping for management of drooling by enhancing the lip closure; To find out the time efficient protocol between kinesio tape and oral motor therapy in reducing the severity and frequency of drooling and reduce the social stigma caused by drooling among children with neurological imapirement. Method: The study is an experimental study design dividing the sample population of 30 children into two groupe. with convenient sampling (random allocation). Group A includes interventional technique receiving oral motor therapy, whereas Group B receives both the interventions including oral motor therapy and kinesiotaping as their intervention. The drooling score is compared at the end of every week for four weeks with frequency and severity of drooling by Thomas-Stonell Drooling Scale, Drooling Impact Scale and the lip closure measurement, measured by vernier caliper (accuracy of calliper 0.05mm). Results: As the study is being carried out and will be completed upto December 2018, the results are yet to be commented on.