Many West Des Moines people suffering from neck pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical
spine disease conditions wonder
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 your pharynx
and its swallowing function, it is valuable to know
just how and why this occurs. Let’s,
Executive Chiropractic of Iowa and you, 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 involves both sensory and motor components.
When it comes to the sensory component, pain stemming
from the neck has the potential to affect
your ability to sense what’s in your mouth,
resulting in difficulty determining 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 interfere with your
ability to move 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). Therefore, 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 decreased laryngeal elevation that commonly
occurs during swallowing. (1) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa wants our West Des Moines
cervical spine pain patients to be aware of 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 source
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-related
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 return to safe
eating habits, proper treatment is essential. Treatment at Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
typically starts with 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 improve strength and range of
motion in the neck muscles as well as tactics for swallowing safety when eating. Electrical
stimulation has been found beneficial 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) Executive Chiropractic of Iowa offers research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Executive Chiropractic of Iowa
There may not be a quick fix for
this problem—treatment typically takes some time—and with
patience and commitment you can get the results you want with
personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule
your West Des Moines chiropractic appointment soon.