Many Vancouver people suffering from neck pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical
spine disease conditions wonder
how it might affect your ability to swallow.
Dysphagia is the technical term for swallowing problems.
While cervical spine conditions may have an impact on pharyngeal swallowing function, it is important to understand
just how and why that would occur. Let us,
Vancouver Disc Centers and our Vancouver 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 component, pain originating in the neck has the potential to impede
your ability to sense what’s in your mouth,
resulting in difficulty knowing when to swallow
which can lead to issues such as choking
or coughing while eating. On the motor side of things, cervical
spine pain conditions might also disturb your
ability to process food as it goes through your mouth
and throat by disrupting usual tongue, jaw, and
hyolaryngeal motions (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 associated
with increased risk of aspiration (inhaling food
particles) due to reduced laryngeal elevation that normally
occurs during swallowing. (1) Vancouver Disc Centers wants our Vancouver
cervical spine pain patients to know about such issues.
The Importance of Proper Treatment
The ability to swallow affects 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 documented
that, lucky for these patients, those who have spine-associated
dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than those whose
dysphagia was related to other issues. (1) In
fact, a case report of a female patient who had both dysphagia and cervical
osteophytes, cervical kyphosis, and thoracolumar scoliosis was treated for 6 months
with chiropractic and reported relief of all issues including dyspagia. (3) In order for individuals with cervical
spine disorder-related dysphagia to again experience safe
eating habits, proper treatment is important. Treatment at Vancouver Disc Centers
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 designed to increase strength and range of
motion in the neck muscles plus strategies to
swallow safely when eating. Electrical
stimulation has been found 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) Vancouver Disc Centers deliveres research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Vancouver Disc Centers
There may not be a quick fix for
this problem—treatment typically takes several weeks—and with
patience and commitment you can get the results you want with
personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Make
your Vancouver chiropractic appointment today.