If you walk through a dining room at an adult rehabilitation center, skilled nursing facility or nursing home, you may see boxes of tissues on quite a few tables. You will notice people having to blow their nose during meals, and you might wonder why.

If asked whether they have a cold, these residents may say, "Not really. My nose just seems to run when I eat." The reason for this nasal discharge during mealtime often is referred to as velopharyngeal insufficiency. Velopharyngeal weakness can occur in individuals with Parkinson's disease or stroke, for example, as well as in people over age 70 who spend a lot of time alone and do not converse with others.

The problem often is caused by a muscle at the back of the throat that has become weak. The velopharyngeal port, which is in the area of the nasopharynx, leads from the mouth to the nasal cavity. It opens and closes mainly to let air flow through the nose, including during yawning, and to allow the individual to pronounce certain speech sounds, such as /m/, /n/ and /ing/.

You can test this by placing your index finger alongside your nose and saying "happy" and then "moaning." You will feel a stronger vibration in your nose when you say "moaning" because the port opens to allow the sound to resonate through the nasal cavity.

As a result of stroke, disease, or lack of exercise, the muscle may relax somewhat during meals. This causes small trace amounts of saliva, which is created during chewing, to travel up to the nasal cavity and through the relaxed port. The nasal sinuses don't like foreign objects, so a stream of secretions is released, which causes the nose to run.

This condition often can be fixed by having patients execute some simple exercises a few times a day. They can practice yawning five times in between other exercises or practice humming, alternating with "ahhh" in the same tune for two minutes.

Another exercise involves patients saying the following list of words five times, making sure they draw out the final sound in each word: bringing, ringing, singing, flinging, burning, learning, turning, baking, faking, raking, taking, tying, trying, flying, frying, running, cunning, spelling, telling, dwelling, waiting, baiting, rating, dating, docking, talking, walking, rocking.

Additionally, they can repeat the following groups of syllables five times each: "lee-lay-lie-low-loo" and "nee-nay-nie-no-noo." The patient should alternate between the two groups.

The next exercise requires patients to fill their cheeks with air. While keeping their tongue low in their mouth, they push air from one cheek to the other. It's important that they do not allow air to escape.

Patients also can execute simple breathing exercises by inhaling through their mouth and breathing out the nose, and vice versa. This exercise, which should be repeated five times, can be very useful during a meal.

If their nose runs while eating, patients can quietly perform this exercise a few times, stopping after the "inhale through the nose, exhale through the mouth" sequence. At this point the port should be closed. When the patients resume eating, the port may be more successful at staying shut, thereby preventing saliva or liquids from moving into the nasal cavity.

Dustie Lynch is on staff at Plaza West Rehabilitation Center in Sun City Center, FL. She can be contacted at dustie6669@msn.com.