Many Fort Wayne cervical spine-related pain (like neck
pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions)
sufferers may be surprised to learn
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 your pharynx
and its swallowing function, it is valuable to recognize
just how and why this occurs. Let us,
Aaron Chiropractic Clinic and our Fort Wayne 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 affect
your ability to identify what is in your mouth,
resulting in difficulty knowing when to swallow
which may lead to issues such as choking
or coughing while eating. On the motor side of things, cervical
spine pain conditions may also disturb your
ability to move food as it goes through your mouth
and throat by disturbing usual tongue, jaw, and
hyolaryngeal movements (the movement of the hyoid bone, the bone
that supports the tongue). As a result, there may
be trouble clearing food debris from your mouth after each
bite or sip. Furthermore, 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) Aaron Chiropractic Clinic wants our Fort Wayne
cervical spine pain patients to know about 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-related
dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than those whose
dysphagia was related to other issues. (1) As a matter of
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 Aaron Chiropractic Clinic
typically starts with 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 designed to increase strength and range of
motion in the neck muscles plus tactics for swallowing safety 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) Aaron Chiropractic Clinic deliveres research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Aaron Chiropractic Clinic
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
individualized care tailored specifically for your needs. Make
your Fort Wayne chiropractic appointment today.