Many Montreal cervical spine-related pain (like neck
pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions)
sufferers are curious
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 your pharynx
and its swallowing function, it is important to recognize
just how and why this occurs. Let’s,
Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic and our Montreal 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 entails both sensory and motor components.
When it comes to the sensory part, pain stemming
from 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 such as choking
or coughing while eating. On the motor side of things, cervical
spine pain conditions might also disturb your
ability to move food as it moves through your mouth
and throat by disturbing normal 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. Additionally, 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) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic wants our Montreal
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-associated
dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than patients whose
dysphagia was linked to other issues. (1) As a matter of
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 important. Treatment at Dr. Hoang's 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 increase strength and range of
motion in the neck muscles plus strategies 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) Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic offers research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Dr. Hoang's Chiropractic Clinic
There may not be a quick fix for
this problem—treatment typically takes some time—and with
patience and dedication you can get the results you want with
personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Make
your Montreal chiropractic appointment soon.