Effect of chewing gum on static posturography in patients with balance disorders.

CONCLUSION

The chewing gum indirectly affects postural control by influencing vestibular function to stabilize posture during upright standing.

OBJECTIVES

This study aimed to evaluate the effect of chewing gum on static posturography in patients.

METHODS

The subjects were 26 patients with chronic balance disorders. The subjects were instructed to stand as stably as possible on the force platform. The recording was conducted four times. For the first evaluation, postural sway was measured during motionless standing. Two weeks after the recording, the postural sway was recorded again as a second evaluation. Thereafter, the subjects were instructed to chew gum for 3 min. The third evaluation was conducted while the subjects continued to chew gum. Then 1 h after the subject had stopped chewing gum, a fourth evaluation was obtained. The total path length (LNG) and rectangle area (REC) were analyzed.

RESULTS

We found that postural stability tended to improve while the subjects masticated gum. Both LNG and REC were significantly improved while the subjects chewed gum with their eyes closed. In patients without canal paralysis (CP), the measurements of LNG with eyes closed and REC with eyes open were significantly decreased while masticating gum. In patients with CP, the REC, but not LNG, was significantly decreased while masticating gum both with eyes open and eyes closed.