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

Many Toronto 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 affect pharyngeal swallowing function, it is important to recognize just how and why that would occur. Let us, Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre and our Toronto 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 involves both sensory and motor components. When it comes to the sensory component, pain coming from the neck has the potential to affect your ability to sense what is in your mouth, resulting in difficulty determining when to swallow which can result in issues such as choking or coughing while eating. On the motor side of things, cervical spine pain conditions might also disturb 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). 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 commonly occurs during swallowing. (1) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre wants our Toronto cervical spine pain patients to be aware of 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 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 patients 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 return to safe eating habits, proper treatment is essential. Treatment at Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre 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 designed 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 related to impaired tongue motion or jaw closure while also promoting increased blood flow throughout the neck region. (4,5) Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre deliveres research based and clinically experienced relieving treatment modalities along with chiropractic spinal manipulation.

CONTACT Yorkville Chiropractic and Wellness Centre

There may not be a quick fix for this problem—treatment typically takes several weeks—with patience and commitment you can get the results you want with individualized care tailored specifically for your needs. Make your Toronto chiropractic appointment today.