Many Manahawkin cervical spine-related pain (like neck
pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions)
sufferers are curious
how it might impact your swallowing ability.
Dysphagia is the technical term for difficulty with swallowing.
While cervical spine conditions may have an impact on pharyngeal swallowing function, it is important to recognize
just how and why that would occur. Let us,
Manahawkin Chiropractic Center and our Manahawkin chiropractic client, look
more closely 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 originating in the neck has the potential to interfere with
your ability to identify what’s in your mouth,
resulting in difficulty knowing when to swallow
which can result in issues such as choking
or coughing during meals. On the motor side of things, cervical
spine pain conditions might also interfere with your
ability to move food as it moves through your mouth
and throat by disturbing usual tongue, jaw, and
hyolaryngeal movements (the movement of the hyoid bone, the bone
that holds the tongue). Therefore, there may
be difficulty clearing food debris from your mouth after each
bite or sip. Furthermore, cervical spine disorder has been associated
with heightened risk of aspiration (inhaling food
particles) due to reduced laryngeal elevation that commonly
occurs during swallowing. (1) Manahawkin Chiropractic Center wants our Manahawkin
cervical spine pain patients to know about such issues.
The Importance of Proper Treatment
The ability to swallow affects your
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, fortunately for these patients, those who have spine-associated
dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than those 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 again experience safe
eating habits, proper treatment is important. Treatment at Manahawkin Chiropractic Center
typically involves a thorough examination to determine the underlying
cervical spine issue followed by a treatment plan including
gentle spinal manipulation care (often in the form of Cox® Technic) and
exercises meant to increase strength and range of
motion in the neck muscles as well as strategies for swallowing safety during meals. Electrical
stimulation has been reported helpful in targeting
specific areas of weakness associated with impaired tongue
motion or jaw closure while also promoting increased blood flow throughout the
neck region. (4,5) Manahawkin Chiropractic Center offers research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Manahawkin Chiropractic Center
While there isn't necessarily a quick fix for
this problem—treatment typically takes some time—and with
patience and commitment you can get the results you want with
individualized care tailored specifically for your needs. Make
your Manahawkin chiropractic appointment soon.