People in speech and language therapy jobs in the UK are likely to be unfamiliar with a new technique that has recently helped a patient recover from the effects of a strokes - electric shocks.

Paul Spence, 53, was paralysed down the left hand side of his body after suffering from a stroke. The Daily Mail reports that Mr Spence was able to recover his ability to walk with help from physiotherapists, but remained unable to swallow.

After contacting Sumathi Sinnapan, a speech and language therapist, Mr Spence has recovered his ability to eat, drink and swallow thanks to a novel new treatment.

Sinnapan used 'VitalStim' therapy to treat Mr Spence. This technique uses electrical stimulation to contract and then relax the muscles. After just four sessions, the patient was able to drink water without assistance.

Now Mr Spence has reportedly recovered his ability to use his mouth and throat to nearly as well as he could prior to his episode. He said that the process "wasn't at all painful. It was like a tingling sensation, as if the throat muscles were being slightly pushed and pulled".

Losing the ability to swallow is a common problem for stroke victims. Muscles in the throat, tongue and cheek can be paralysed by an episode and become severely weakened, making swallowing impossible. This condition is known as dysphagia.

Whilst many speech and language therapists will be familiar with the conventional treatment for dysphagia, muscle-strengthening exercises, they will also be aware that these can be unreliable. In the future they may find that VitalStim therapy helps complement and perhaps even replace this as a professional tool to help patients.