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

Many Manahawkin 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 pharyngeal swallowing function, it is important to recognize just how and why that would occur. Let us, Manahawkin Chiropractic Center and our Manahawkin chiropractic client, 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 interfere with your ability to identify what’s in your mouth, resulting in difficulty knowing when to swallow which can result in issues such as 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 movements (the movement of the hyoid bone, the bone that holds the tongue). Therefore, there may be difficulty clearing food debris from your mouth after each bite or sip. Furthermore, cervical spine disorder has been associated with heightened risk of aspiration (inhaling food particles) due to reduced laryngeal elevation that commonly occurs during swallowing. (1) Manahawkin Chiropractic Center wants our Manahawkin cervical spine pain patients to know about 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 root cause of the swallowing trouble. Researchers are fine-tuning their evaluation of patients with swallowing issues. (2) A recent study reported that, fortunately for these patients, those who have spine-associated dysphagia had better outcomes with treatment than those whose dysphagia was linked 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 important. Treatment at Manahawkin Chiropractic Center typically involves 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 increase strength and range of motion in the neck muscles as well as strategies for swallowing safety during meals. Electrical stimulation has been reported helpful 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) Manahawkin Chiropractic Center offers research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

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

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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."