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

Many Groton cervical spine-related pain (like neck pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions) sufferers 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 affect pharyngeal swallowing function, it is valuable to understand just how and why that would occur. Let us, Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office 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 part, pain originating in the neck has the potential to affect your ability to identify what’s in your mouth, resulting in trouble knowing when to swallow which may lead to issues such as choking or coughing during meals. On the motor side of things, cervical spine pain conditions might also disturb your ability to move food as it goes through your mouth and throat by disturbing usual 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. 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) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office wants our Groton cervical spine pain patients to be aware of 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 reported 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) 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 important. Treatment at Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office 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 meant to increase strength and range of motion in the neck muscles plus strategies for swallowing safety when eating. Electrical stimulation has been reported 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) Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office deliveres research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

CONTACT Shoreline Medical Services/ Hutter Chiropractic Office

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. Make your Groton chiropractic appointment today.