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

Many Fernandina Beach 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 have an impact on your pharynx and its swallowing function, it is valuable to understand just how and why this occurs. Let’s, Amelia Chiropractic Clinic and our Fernandina Beach 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 coming from the neck can hamper your ability to identify what is in your mouth, resulting in trouble knowing when to swallow which can result in issues such as choking or coughing during meals. On the motor side of things, cervical spine pain conditions might also interfere with your ability to move food as it moves through your mouth and throat by disturbing usual tongue, jaw, and hyolaryngeal motions (the movement of the hyoid bone, the bone that holds the tongue). Therefore, there may be difficulty 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 decreased laryngeal elevation that normally occurs during swallowing. (1) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic wants our Fernandina Beach cervical spine pain patients to be aware of such issues.

The Importance of Proper Treatment

The ability to swallow impacts 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-related dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than patients whose dysphagia was related 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 return to safe eating habits, proper treatment is important. Treatment at Amelia Chiropractic Clinic 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 improve strength and range of motion in the neck muscles plus strategies to swallow safely 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) Amelia Chiropractic Clinic deliveres research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

CONTACT Amelia Chiropractic Clinic

While there isn't necessarily a quick fix for this problem—treatment typically takes some time—with patience and commitment you can get the results you want with personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule your Fernandina Beach chiropractic appointment today.