Types, Causes and Treatment for Stuttering and Stammering

You must have witnessed someone not able to complete his/her sentence and continue to put breaks after few words. This condition is referred as Stammering or Stuttering. These are two different words used in speech therapy with same meaning and can be used as vice versa.

This condition is defined as the interference in the forward flow of speech through various behaviours. Stammering is mostly noticed in children of early age while developing speaking skills. Almost 5% or above are the stats for the affected children aged between 2 to 5 years of age. But if this condition develops in your adulthood, you need to consult a doctor as this may be serious.

Stammering causes difficulty for the speaker as they may skip some words in certain situations. A person may face issues in organizing words or sentences while speaking in front of a mass audience, which can happen even with the fluent speakers out of nervousness. And this condition can also referred as Stuttering in the USA.

Types of Stammering in adults

Drug-Related Stammering

This type of stammering is due to the intake of a certain drug, which disappears as soon as you discontinue that drug.

Stress Related Stammering

This type of stammering is triggered by an emotional challenge. The reason for the stress can be anything i.e. anger, loss of a relationship etc.

Neurogenic Stammering

This speech disorder can be due to minor stroke and lasts for about few hours. However, they should not ignore the condition and consult a doctor as soon as possible.

Individual cause of Stammering

If there is no identifiable cause, the it is known as idiopathic stammering. This means that the condition is only related to the person worried and does not comes under any other category.

Re-occurrence of a childhood Stammer

There are some people who develop this condition in early childhood which then stops. But it again re-occur at some point in the adult life.

Risk Factors for Stuttering

1. Family History If a child or any close family member has stuttering issues, there are chances of this speech disorder to continue are much greater.
2. Gender – Gender is also a factor considered for stuttering. If studies are to be believed 3 to 4 boys stutter for every girl who stutters. Therefore, it shows that girls stutter more as compared to boys.
3. Age When Stuttering Starts – Generally children who starts stuttering before the age of 3.5 years of age, they are less likely to stammer later in their life. Stuttering continue for longer in life, if it starts earlier.

These are the factors which helps to decide, if the child needs the speech therapy and Speech-Language-Pathologist or not. Then decide if the requirement of treatment is immediate or not.

Causes of Stammering

Following are the common causes of stammering:

• Genetic disorder running in the family.
• Anxiety, stress, lack of self-confidence, and shame
• Neuromuscular problems
• Difficulty in tongue and lips movement
• Inability to control muscles of the speech organ

Remedies for Stammering

• The Brahmi oil is a useful remedy for those who stutter.
• Use the paste of almond, black pepper and sugar early in the morning on an empty stomach for at least a month.
• Chew a fresh green amla slowly to cure your stammering problem.
• Use Cinnamomum Tamala (Tejpat) under your tongue for stammering treatment.
• Take bloated borax and mix it with honey, gently rub this paste on the tongue.
• Ghee also helps to improve brain and memory power.

Exercises for Stammering

• Pronunciation of the vowels A, E, I, O and U, loudly and clearly .
• Stuttering often increases if you are in stress and anxiety but breathing exercises can help in this condition.
• Drinking liquid with the help of a straw is one of the oral exercises to help in dealing with stammering.
• For Identification of patterns of repetition of words which causes stuttering, reading exercises are really helpful in that case and reduce stuttering.
• 4 to 5 repetitions of Jaw Technique exercise every night will give great results.

Author’s Bio

Priya Mishra is a content writer and SEO executive at Hearing Solutions. She is a regular contributor at many sites and focuses on health and technology.