Many Oxford people suffering from neck pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical
spine disease conditions may be surprised to learn
how it might affect your ability to swallow.
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 know
just how and why this occurs. Let’s,
Satterwhite Chiropractic and our Oxford 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 sense what’s in your mouth,
resulting in trouble knowing when to swallow
which may result in issues like choking
or coughing during meals. On the motor side of things, cervical
spine pain conditions may also disturb your
ability to process food as it goes through your mouth
and throat by disrupting normal 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. Additionally, cervical spine disorder has been linked to increased risk of aspiration (inhaling food
particles) due to reduced laryngeal elevation that normally
occurs during swallowing. (1) Satterwhite Chiropractic wants our Oxford
cervical spine pain patients to be aware of 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 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-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 return to safe
eating habits, proper treatment is essential. Treatment at Satterwhite Chiropractic
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 designed to increase strength and range of
motion in the neck muscles as well as tactics to
swallow safely 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) Satterwhite Chiropractic deliveres research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic
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
personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule
your Oxford chiropractic appointment soon.