Many Southern New Hampshire people suffering from neck pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions are curious how it might impact your swallowing ability. Dysphagia is the technical term for swallowing problems. While cervical spine conditions may affect pharyngeal swallowing function, it is valuable to understand just how and why this occurs. Let us, New Hampshire Spine and Sport 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 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 trouble knowing when to swallow which may result in issues like choking or coughing while eating. On the motor side of things, cervical spine pain conditions may also interfere with 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). Therefore, there may be trouble clearing food debris from your mouth after each bite or sip. Furthermore, cervical spine disorder has been linked to heightened risk of aspiration (inhaling food particles) due to decreased laryngeal elevation that normally occurs during swallowing. (1) New Hampshire Spine and Sport wants our Southern New Hampshire 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 source of the swallowing trouble. Researchers are fine-tuning their evaluation of patients with swallowing issues. (2) A recent study documented that, fortunately 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 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 essential. Treatment at New Hampshire Spine and Sport 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 designed to improve strength and range of motion in the neck muscles as well as strategies for swallowing safety 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) New Hampshire Spine and Sport deliveres research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.
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There may not be a quick fix for this problem—treatment typically takes some time—with patience and dedication you can get the results you want with individualized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule your Southern New Hampshire chiropractic appointment soon.