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

Many McHenry people suffering from neck pain, stiffness, or other degenerative cervical spine disease conditions wonder how it might affect your ability to swallow. Dysphagia is the technical term for swallowing problems. While cervical spine conditions may have an impact on your pharynx and its swallowing function, it is important to recognize just how and why that would occur. Let us, OrthoIllinois Chiropractic 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 impede your ability to sense what is in your mouth, resulting in difficulty knowing when to swallow which can lead to issues like choking or coughing during meals. 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 usual tongue, jaw, and hyolaryngeal movements (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 normally occurs during swallowing. (1) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic wants our McHenry cervical spine pain patients to know about 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 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 those whose dysphagia was related to other issues. (1) As a matter of 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 essential. Treatment at OrthoIllinois Chiropractic 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 designed to increase strength and range of motion in the neck muscles as well as tactics for swallowing safety during meals. 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) OrthoIllinois Chiropractic deliveres research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

CONTACT OrthoIllinois Chiropractic

While there isn't necessarily a quick fix for this problem—treatment typically takes some time—with patience and commitment you can get the results you want with personalized care tailored specifically for your needs. Schedule your McHenry chiropractic appointment soon.