Electrical pulses strengthen throat muscles

THE officially approved Vital Stim procedure has been used in America since 2002 and is aimed at babies and toddlers.

Despite not being sanctioned by the NHS - blamed on a lack of clinical evidence - it has a 95 per cent success rate in the US.

It involves electrical pulses being applied to the throat while a therapist encourages the patient to swallow.

It is an intensive method which involves around a month of hard work.

The idea is to increase the strength of the swallowing muscles to make the procedure a natural occurrence.

It was developed by Marcy Freed and approved by the US Food and Drug Administration eight years ago.