Many Fernandina Beach cervical spine-related pain (like neck
pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions)
sufferers wonder
how it might affect your ability to swallow.
Dysphagia is the technical term for difficulty with swallowing.
While cervical spine conditions may affect your pharynx
and its swallowing function, it is valuable to know
just how and why that would occur. Let’s,
Amelia Chiropractic Clinic and our Fernandina Beach chiropractic client, take a closer look at the connection between cervical spine
disorders and swallowing function.
The Link Between Cervical Spine Pain and Swallowing Function
The relationship between cervical spine pain conditions and
swallowing function entails both sensory and motor components.
When it comes to the sensory part, pain stemming
from the neck has the potential to affect
your ability to sense what’s in your mouth,
resulting in trouble determining when to swallow
which may lead to issues such as choking
or coughing during meals. On the motor side of things, cervical
spine pain conditions may also interfere with your
ability to process food as it moves through your mouth
and throat by disrupting normal tongue, jaw, and
hyolaryngeal movements (the movement of the hyoid bone, the bone
that holds the tongue). As a result, there may
be trouble clearing food debris from your mouth after each
bite or sip. Additionally, cervical spine disorder has been linked to increased risk of aspiration (inhaling food
particles) due to decreased laryngeal elevation that normally
occurs during swallowing. (1) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic wants our Fernandina Beach
cervical spine pain patients to be aware of such issues.
The Importance of Proper Treatment
The ability to swallow impacts one’s
quality of life. A variety of diseases and spinal conditions may be the root cause
of the swallowing trouble. Researchers are fine-tuning their evaluation of
patients with swallowing issues. (2) A recent study reported
that, lucky for these patients, those who have spine-associated
dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than patients whose
dysphagia was linked to other issues. (1) In
fact, a case report of a female patient with
swallowing issues who also had cervical osteophytes, cervical kyphosis, and thoracolumar
scoliosis was treated for 6 months with chiropractic reported relief of all
issues including dysphagia. (3) In order for individuals with cervical
spine disorder-related dysphagia to return to safe
eating habits, proper treatment is essential. Treatment at Amelia Chiropractic Clinic
typically involves a thorough examination to determine the underlying
cervical spine issue followed by a treatment plan incorporating
gentle spinal manipulation care (often in the form of Cox® Technic) and
exercises meant to improve strength and range of
motion in the neck muscles plus strategies to
swallow safely during meals. Electrical
stimulation has been found helpful in targeting
specific areas of weakness related to impaired tongue
motion or jaw closure while also promoting increased blood flow throughout the
neck region. (4,5) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic offers research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Amelia Chiropractic Clinic
There may not be a quick fix for
this problem—treatment typically takes several weeks—and with
patience and dedication you can get the results you want with
personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule
your Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment soon.