Oxford Chiropractic Care for Cervical Spine Conditions and Related Dysphagia (swallowing trouble)

Many Oxford 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 difficulty with swallowing. While cervical spine conditions may have an impact on pharyngeal swallowing function, it is important to know just how and why that would occur. Let us, Satterwhite Chiropractic and our Oxford chiropractic client, take a closer look 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 identify what is 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 may also interfere with your ability to process food as it moves through your mouth and throat by disrupting normal tongue, jaw, and hyolaryngeal motions (the movement of the hyoid bone, the bone that supports the tongue). Therefore, there may be difficulty 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 commonly 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 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-related 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 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 again experience safe eating habits, proper treatment is essential. Treatment at Satterwhite Chiropractic 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 meant 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 beneficial 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) Satterwhite Chiropractic deliveres research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

CONTACT Satterwhite Chiropractic

There may not be a quick fix for this problem—treatment typically takes several weeks—with patience and dedication you can get the results you want with personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule your Oxford chiropractic appointment soon.