Many La Grande cervical spine-related pain (like neck
pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions)
sufferers 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 your pharynx
and its swallowing function, it is valuable to recognize
just how and why this occurs. Let’s,
Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC and you, 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 part, pain originating in the neck can impede
your ability to identify what is in your mouth,
resulting in difficulty knowing when to swallow
which may lead to issues like choking
or coughing while eating. On the motor side of things, cervical
spine pain conditions may also disturb your
ability to process food as it moves 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). Therefore, there may
be difficulty clearing food debris from your mouth after each
bite or sip. Furthermore, 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) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC wants our La Grande
cervical spine pain patients to know about 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 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 those whose
dysphagia was related 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 important. Treatment at Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
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 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) Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC offers research based and
clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic
spinal manipulation.
CONTACT Paulette Hugulet, DC, LLC
There may not be a quick fix for
this problem—treatment typically takes several weeks—and with
patience and dedication you can get the results you want with
personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule
your La Grande chiropractic appointment soon.