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

Many Fort Wayne people suffering from neck pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions wonder how it might impact your swallowing ability. Dysphagia is the technical term for swallowing problems. While cervical spine conditions may affect pharyngeal swallowing function, it is important to know just how and why that would occur. Let’s, Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc and our Fort Wayne 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 coming from the neck can affect your ability to identify what is in your mouth, resulting in difficulty determining when to swallow which can lead to issues like 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). As a result, there may be trouble clearing food debris from your mouth after each bite or sip. Additionally, cervical spine disorder has been associated with heightened risk of aspiration (inhaling food particles) due to decreased laryngeal elevation that commonly occurs during swallowing. (1) Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc wants our Fort Wayne cervical spine pain patients to be aware of 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 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-related 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 again experience safe eating habits, proper treatment is essential. Treatment at Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc 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 meant to improve strength and range of motion in the neck muscles as well as strategies to swallow safely during meals. Electrical stimulation has been reported 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) Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc offers research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

CONTACT Cox Chiropractic Medicine Inc

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 individualized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule your Fort Wayne chiropractic appointment today.