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

Many Pflugerville 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 difficulty with swallowing. While cervical spine conditions may affect your pharynx and its swallowing function, it is valuable to understand just how and why this occurs. Let’s, Pflugerville Wellness Center 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 involves 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 is in your mouth, resulting in difficulty determining when to swallow which can lead to issues like choking or coughing while eating. On the motor side of things, cervical spine pain conditions may also interfere with your ability to move food as it moves through your mouth and throat by disrupting normal 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 increased risk of aspiration (inhaling food particles) due to decreased laryngeal elevation that commonly occurs during swallowing. (1) Pflugerville Wellness Center wants our Pflugerville 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 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-related dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than those whose dysphagia was related 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 again experience safe eating habits, proper treatment is important. Treatment at Pflugerville Wellness Center 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 to swallow safely when eating. 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) Pflugerville Wellness Center offers research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

CONTACT Pflugerville Wellness Center

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 individualized care tailored specifically for your needs. Make your Pflugerville chiropractic appointment today.

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"This information and website content is not intended to diagnose, guarantee results, or recommend specific treatment or activity. It is designed to educate and inform only. Please consult your physician for a thorough examination leading to a diagnosis and well-planned treatment strategy. See more details on the DISCLAIMER page. Content is reviewed by Dr. James M. Cox I."