Throat Anatomy: Throat Parts, Pictures | Healthhype.com Home » Current Health Articles » Throat Anatomy: Throat Parts, Pictures Throat Anatomy: Throat Parts, Pictures Tweet What Is the Throat? The throat comprises of air and food passageways lying behind the nasal cavity and mouth and in the neck. It consists (from the top to the bottom) of the pharynx, epiglottis, larynx (voice box with vocal cords) and the upper part of the esophagus and trachea (Picture 1). Picture 1: Throat parts: pharynx, epiglottis, larynx, esophagus (trachea extends downwards from the larynx) (source: Wikimedia ) Parts of the Throat The pharynx is a muscular tube lying behind the nasal cavity and mouth, carrying air from the nose toward the larynx and food from the mouth toward the esophagus. Pharynx is what your doctor can see through your mouth during “checking your throat” (Picture 2). Picture 2: Normal, healthy throat, as seen through the mouth Ask a Doctor Online Now!

The epiglottis is a muscular fold that covers the entrance of the larynx during swallowing, thus preventing food from entering the lungs. The larynx (voice box) is a tube made of muscles and cartilages and carrying air from the nose and throat toward the trachea. When your doctor checks your throat using a small mirror, he can see vocal cords within your larynx. From outside, larynx looks as a vertical tube in the front of your neck, being prominent in its upper part in men (Adam’s apple) and moving up and down during swallowing. The trachea (windpipe) is a tube made of muscles and cartilages, carrying air from the larynx to bronchi. The esophagus is a muscular tube carrying food from the pharynx toward the stomach. Parts of the esophagus and trachea lying behind the breastbone are not considered as parts of the throat.

Related Articles: About Jan Modric ( 249 Articles ) Health writer Pingback: Larynx or Voice Box - Anatomy, Position, Function, Disorders | Current Health Articles () Raj Verma In my oral cavity on the tonsil some white particle are collecting after increaseing the size of white particles it comes out from mouth and some pain in throat also. this white particles are very bad in smell. I want to know what is this? Is it cancer or some thing els. How can I treat tell me. Jan Modric Raj Verma, white particles are probably pus, which can result from a chronic tonsil inflammation (chronic tonsillitis). A specialist for ear, throat and nose (ENT) can make a diagnosis and recommends appropriate treatment. I can’t recommend any home remedies without knowing the cause. Louise i have just got over influenza A virus. i have smelly breath and my throat seems larger under my chin and sides there, i cant sleep well because of it can you help? i have a constant dry mouth. my voice has been slightly husky HealthHype Hi Louise. It is advisable that you see your doctor. You could have developed a secondary bacterial infection of the throat.

This commonly follows a viral infection like the flu. Antibiotics may be necessary if it is a bacterial infection. Your doctor will first examine the area, possibly run further tests and then prescribe the appropriate treatment. audrey barton I went to a walk in clinic a few days ago the doctor said i have a common cold, ive been taking some over the counter medicine like she said to help with some of the symptoms but now it hurts to swallow and the pain not only originates in the throat when i swallow it also hurts up into my ears. I dont want to go back to the doctor if its just part of this cold. Can someone please give me some advice or remedies to help with the pain? HealthHype Hi Audrey. It is was just the common cold and these new symptoms have developed days after then it is possible that you have now developed a secondary infection of the throat, which may be extending up the eustachian tube to the middle ear. The eustachian tube is a tiny passage that connects the back of the throat to the middle ear so microbes in the throat can easily travel up it. This secondary infection could be bacterial and would then require antibiotics which were not necessary for the common cold (since that was viral).

You therefore need to see a doctor who can examine your throat and ears and reach a diagnosis. Delaying could lead to complications. audrey barton I went to the doctors before recieving this. It had turned into strep and an ear infection ontop of bronchitis second doctor Was alot more affective at getting me to feel better Hi Audrey. Glad to hear that you are feeling better. Secondary bacterial infections of the ear, throat and lower airways (bronchitis) are common following viral infections like the common cold. Antibiotics are necessary for these secondary bacterial infections. andy klompenburg Yesterday at about 330 I had a turbinate reduction. Upon waking my throat was terrible sore as it is also now the next day. I had packing placed in my nose for about 4 hours then removed. I had bleeding afterwords but let it drain on a nose sling for the next day. Its now stopped and all the blood crusty’s removed with saline flushing with a ear bulb. All day I notice red blood at the back of my throat behind my tongue. Is this draining from my sinuses or from my irritated throat. Should I make my doctor aware?

fan of Whitney My epiglottis is irritated, and it feels like something is stuck in my throat. Any ideas why this is happening? Feels like a pill is stuck. Any help appreciated! HealthHype Hi Fan. How can you be certain that it is your epiglottis? Many throat conditions appear with similar symptoms. It may be an infection or it could be irritation related to allergies like with post nasal drip. Another common cause is acid reflux. Consult with your doctor to be sure. brooklyn23 I know I’m so late 5yrs worth lol. But just in case you never found out and you read this, its called tonsil stones. Yes they smell horrible. Victoria chavez Hi! I really need some help…so 2 days ago I woke up with a headache and sore throat and it’s been the second day and I still have both of those problems. Well I check my mouth and I’m not sure but on the left side I think my tonsil? Close to my uvula there’s like white little looking pimples.. There not pimples but they are little bumps I felt them but I don’t think o have a sore throat it just hurts because of those things …what is it?

HealthHype HI Victoria. Hopefully your symptoms have resolved by now. Many acute viral infections may present in this manner.The throat inflammation and uvula symptoms are not uncommon although most people do not notice it on their own. If it is persisting past a few days or the symptoms are very severe then it is advisable that you see a doctor. apple For about a week and a half I have had the feeling that something is stuck in my middle to lower throat. Thought allergies at first though I take allergy meds on a daily basis but swticjed to benedryl for a couple days. No relief. Next I thought acid reflux though I take nexium daily I tried tums and something a little stronger than maylox. I went to urgent care because I couldnt wait any longer. They rushed me to ER. Where they gave me a chest xray (to see if somethings stuck but never thought I had something actaully stuck just the sensation.) It makes me nauseous and vomit and sends me into oanic atracks because somethings i feel like i cant breath.

They also used a hand held scope at er that only reached vocal coards and a esphagus cocktail with numbing agents and amti inflammatory steriods. Only to wake up feeling worse today…..im at a loss of what it could be. Set up appointment for tomorrow with a GI dr. Hope I get answers. Im a 25 year old female with hoshimotos hypothyroidism Johnny inpain Hello to you all, i am a 27 years old male, I’ve been experiencing weird sensations in my soft palate and my uvula for about 4 months now, the sensation in question is a mixture of numbness and discomfort, i can’t swallow right nor can i breath without feeling a slight numb pain, also talking has became a hard thing to do, my whole throat hurts, and the weirdest thing of all , is that the back of my tongue is constantly numb too, i got myself checked by many doctors, and all they did is give me allergy pills and antibiotics, one of them told me that i have a dystrophy but nothing helped and my condition i fear is getting worse overtime. I’d like to add that i am a smoker, though i am trying to quite.

If you can just point me in the right direction into figuring out what’s wrong with me, and how to avoid making it worse please. Thank you very much for your help. Lump in My Throat: A Globus Hystericus Story by Paul Ingraham , Vancouver, Canada bio I am a science writer and a former Registered Massage Therapist with a decade of experience treating tough pain cases. I was the Assistant Editor of ScienceBasedMedicine.org for several years. I’ve written hundreds of articles and several books, and I’m known for readable but heavily referenced analysis, with a touch of sass. I am a runner and ultimate player. • more about me • more about PainScience.com SUMMARY Globus pharyngeus is the sensation of a lump in the throat in the absence of any physical obstruction in the throat, often considered psychosomatic. It’s common and may just be a minor sensory anomaly, like tinnitus. For a sensory phantom, globus can be serious bully, interfering with swallowing and even breathing in the worst cases, and usually causing serious anxiety about the possibility of scary causes like cancer. Unfortunately, it’s almost impossible to confidently rule out a physical cause in the short term.

Globus probably is “all in your head,” unless it isn’t. Unfortunately, the diagnostic challenge of is immense. Many subtle or obscure problems can be at the root of it, but some globus sufferers eventually get answers and relief from the discovery of causes like tonsil stones (in my own case), acid reflux, minor injuries to pharyngeal stuctures, Eagle syndrome, cysts and cervical osteophytes, and other miscellaneous anatomical abnormalities, mostly minor — anything that irritates the throat, probably. full article 6000 words This is an unusually personal article, an exploration of a medical problem that relates to pain indirectly. I’ve rarely used the PainScience.com platform in this way, but globus belongs here: it can hurt, it’s quite musculoskeletal in character, it’s often associated with neck pain , and it involves some truly neat biology and science. I think this article will help some people. There aren’t many detailed articles about globus available, and certainly none like this. It was just the right sort of day for a stress-triggered medical problem: moving day. The lump in my throat was like a thick booger I couldn’t swallow.

Or a medium-sized pill lodged in my esophagus. Or a finger pressing firmly on my trachea. As moving day wore on, it grew under my Adam’s apple until I noticed I was clearing my throat as often as I swallowed. I kept trying to spit it up, and getting nothing. Mostly I do not swear on this website, but I’m making an exception: it would feel quite dishonest not to cuss with feeling about this experience. It was fucking frustrating. Painless, 1 but deeply unsettling. This sensation, in the absence of any physical obstruction in the throat, is called globus pharyngeus, or — if you’re in a more judgemental mood — the old-timey term globus hystericus, which bluntly suggests a psychosomatic cause. Globus feels like something in your throat, but it’s all in your head. Apparently. My initial battle with globus felt like the longest month of my life, peaking with some terrifying swallowing awkwardness that made eating difficult. I then continued to suffer seriously for about eight months, and then occasional milder episodes ever since — another year and counting. For a sensory phantom, globus is a serious bully.

What’s going on in there? A 19th century etching/lithograph of a human throat dissection during an autopsy. My globus story has a happy ending (sort of) My globus was clearly a complication of a larger medical drama that had started months before, in the summer of 2014. I’d had months of odd throat pain leading up to the onset of globus, and that pain lasted until the middle of summer 2015… when I finally found and literally removed the cause, after 10 months of serious misery. My globus then resolved over a few weeks after that. It was hell, but it had an ending. I did continue to have some trouble intermittently for quite a while, but has always felt like much less of a problem since the first major relief. You can skip to the unusual good-news ending, which explains … or read about the story as I experienced it. My globus story is here to help you, the globus sufferer searching the Internet. If this article reassures you, or anything else, please drop me a line and tell me about it. It’s is also just pure emotional venting for me. I need to write about this.

I feel like I’ve been through hell, and I just need to talk about it. Day 1: There’s something growing in there! By late on moving day — a Saturday — I was starting to really worry. It felt so much like there was something in my throat that I kept shining a flashlight down my gullet. I saw a harmless and irrelevant nodule on my uvula, 2 but that’s what I fixated on at first, When you have a lump in your throat that won’t go away, most people think cancer. I sure as shit did. even though it was much higher in the throat than my globus sensation. This is the problem with trying to diagnose yourself, kids. Remember, I’d been having months of other odd throat symptoms. So it didn’t take much to get my imagination revved up. Basically, when you have a lump in your throat that won’t go away, most people think cancer. A Wikipedia page on cricopharyngeal spasm (more on this below) says: These spasms are frequently misunderstood by the patient to be cancer. I sure as shit did. Day 2: The least relaxing Sunday ever I woke up Sunday morning to find the lump gone. Bliss!

I felt like cheering. I kept swallowing experimentally and grinning madly. Callooh, callay, it’s gone! Phew! This was also my first helpful hint that it probably wasn’t cancer. As a general rule, tumours don’t appear in an afternoon leave you alone just because it’s time for breakfast. Alas, I was also about to be hammered by the discovery that globus typically worsens as the day goes on. By midday, it started to niggle, and within a couple more hours I had to concede that The Lump was back. I found it emotionally impossible to keep in mind that it wasn’t acting much like a tumour. I spent the rest of the day in a state of extreme anxiety and frustration. A couple times, I was squirming on the edge of panic, fighting the impulse to whimper and scream, like I was waking up from a nightmare about swallowing something too large. 3 Oddly, my symptoms backed off almost completely later in the evening. As I relaxed. Another clue! Day 3: This T-shirt trying to kill me!

On the third day, I got woozy: I had head rushes every other time I stood up all day long, which greatly exacerbated my fear of seriousness illness. Of course, I was also exhausted and strung out. 4 But in my mind, it was all “okay, I guess I’m probably dying now or something.” And then there was the T-shirt. We all know how dangerous they can be. As the globus set in for the afternoon, it had a more dire quality to it than before. It had merely been irritating and worrisome. When I put on a fresh T-shirt with a fairly high and tight collar, I felt like I was being strangled. When I put on a fresh T-shirt with a fairly high and tight collar, I felt like I was being strangled. I lightly touched my trachea and discovered that even a tiny amount of pressure felt extremely threatening. That’s it! I thought. To the walk-in clinic! It was dark and raining like movie rain, but I trudged out and walked ten minutes to the clinic in my new neighbourhood… and found they had a minimum one-hour wait. I wasn’t that scared. I’m a busy man! I went back home.

Maybe in the morning. Days 4, 5, 6… As the days marched on, I suffered quite a bit, and learned three main things: The walk-in clinic was an absurdly busy place. Spooked as I was, I would be brave-ish and wait for a scheduled appointment with my ENT specialist on Saturday. I felt worse every afternoon, but better each late evening — presumably as I relaxed. Indeed, my evenings were unusually relaxing relative to the days that preceded them. It fits. Also, Lorazepam was startlingly helpful. 5 Swallowing saliva was a bit awkward, but food was easy. In fact, it felt good and eased the symptoms for a while. And so I ate quite a bit. Reader story: “Even the ambient air pressure was too much” Matching the very personal tone of this article, here’s a very personal reader story: Ever since I read your story, my ‘’lump’’ has vanished. As has the numb face, headache, toothache and all around general feeling of anxiety. 2014 was, to put it plainly, one hell of a fucking ride. Divorce-after 22 years.

Selling of the house I had lived in for 17 of those 22 years. Moving my office. Moving into a new place. Alone. No kids. No cats. Cancer. Not me, my ex. Lots of drinking. No sleep. Finally coming to terms with the fact that if your dad and sister aren’t there for you during one of the most difficult times in your life, well. You gotta let go. That one, strangely, was really hard. Because I realized that this chase, this pointless, running after people who don’t give a shit thing, has tainted much of my adult life. Ha. Things are good now. Back on the wagon. Eating. Cancer is under check. Kids are good. But still, there was the goddamn lump. I mean hell, even the ambient air was too much pressure at times. Carol Lynn Chevrier , private correspondence used here with permission (“I’ve always worn my heart on my sleeve”) Day 7: Like being force fed a chopstick “You encouraged me to come back early if I needed to,” I said to the ENT specialist, a big, genial guy with a thick silver chain around his neck.

“So I’m back early because I have a new symptom that’s freaking me out. I’ve never wanted anyone to stick a scope down my throat so badly. Please look in there and tell me what you see.” Avoid throat scopes if you can. Laryngoscopy feels like being force fed a whole chopstick. It’s one the crappiest experiences I’ve ever had in a doctor’s office. He’d done it once before after spraying the back of my throat with a topical aneasthetic. This time he did it without the numbing, for no apparent reason: just snuck up on me, the bastard. If he ever tries that again, he’s going to end up with a me-shaped hole in his door from my cartoonish exit. So after a week of having an incredibly distinct sensation of something lodged in my throat, what did he find? You already know what he found Nothing. Nothing at all. Just a nice smooth pink tube. I could go on for paragraphs about the doctor and what we discussed, but blah blah blah. He found nothing, he diagnosed globus. He tried to reassure me that there probably is something “real” going on, but the lump sensation itself … globus. His prescription: “Calm.

The fuck. Down.” Okay, he didn’t actually swear, but you could tell he wanted to. I more or less accepted his diagnosis. Day 8: Wikipedia for the win On the 8th day, I read Wikipedia. Beware of Googling your medical problems. Seriously. Watch this pretty hilarious video about how perilous it is. But I’m an expert — I sort of do this kind of reading for a living — so I dared. Within minutes I discovered a perfect description of my globus, and I do mean perfect. Specifically, a sub-type of globus — cricopharyngeal spasm — fit me better than my skin. What a strange sensation, to find one’s misery captured precisely in a bulleted list.Some of it was eerily accurate, like “The symptoms can be mimicked by pushing on the cartilage in the neck, just below the Adam’s apple” and “eating, in fact, often makes the tightness go away for a time.” Yeah. That’s me, to a T. What a strange sensation, to find one’s misery captured precisely in a bulleted list.

Strange…but good, because according to Wikipedia, cricopharyngeal spasm is a harmless, if uncomfortable, self-limiting disorder and will resolve itself over a period of time. I felt better for the first time in a week. I really did. Day 9: These eggs are trying to kill me! On the Monday of the second week, I made myself my favourite breakfast: a nice little omelette, hot and soft. The trick is not to overdo them, mere seconds in the pan, like Julia Child taught me. I had no globus as I prepared them. I wasn’t expecting any trouble. And then I choked on my eggs. Swallowing felt distinctly awkward, and I couldn’t get a bite down. I had to cough a bit of it back up. Betrayed by an omelette! It was emotionally shattering. The most comforting thing I’d learned the day before — “eating often helps” — was destroyed in a few moments. Cancer fear rushed back in like a dark tide. Difficulty swallowing felt like confirmation of my worst fears. If I was struggling to swallow, there had to be something obstructing my throat? Amiright?

6 The legacy of the fishbone Confession: I’ve never been good at swallowing. When I was about five, I heard a story about my great grandmother getting a fishbone stuck in her throat… and that story stuck in my mind, forever. I hate taking pills, always have. I couldn’t really handle eating fish until I was in my twenties, and I’m still annoyingly cautious with them to this day. I have been known to give up on mouthfuls of perfectly good steak and spit them out, because I just couldn’t get the bolus positioned for a swallow that felt safe. I went through a period about three years ago where I actually felt nervous of swallowing almost anything even slightly difficult, for no apparent reason. I got over it just as it was really getting to be Quite A Thing. Yeah, I’m a freak. Just something “funny” about me! All this is was like sensory gasoline on the bonfire of my globus. I had a bad moment with swallowing my soft eggs, and it triggered an emotional chain reaction. Everyone has bad moments swallowing, but my moment turned into a 3-day nightmare because of my swallowing idiosyncrazy. I guess. I’ll never really know.

But it’s a good working theory. Cancer fear redux Job one on day nine — yeah, we’re still on day nine here — was to get the cancer fear under control. An ENT specialist had looked down my throat 36 hours earlier and seen nothing. It seemed implausible to me that any kind of throat cancer could possibly be missed in a careful throat exam on Saturday, yet cause swallowing trouble on Monday. But I couldn’t confirm this in an hour of furious Googling. I needed to talk to a doctor. I signed up for an extremely new-fangled online medical consultation service . A doctor friend of mine had invested in the company a year before and encouraged me to give it a try. So I finally did, and soon enough I was video chatting with an amiable 70-year-old physician who appeared to be hanging out at home. He was quite helpful. “A medical student couldn’t have missed that” “A medical student couldn’t have missed that,” he said.

“The most incompetent non-specialist would have seen something.” Upper throat cancers (squamous-cell carcinomas) are quite visible to a scope by nature — they mostly grow on the exposed surfaces of the esophagus and trachea — where cells have been abused by smoke or booze for decades, especially the combination. Fit, younger non-smokers and moderate drinkers are nearly immune. 7 “Nothing’s impossible, but your risk of a cancer here is absurdly low.” Thanks, virtual doctor. “But let me prescribe something a little unconventional for your lump,” he said. And then he prescribed homeopathy. Groan. 8 But I already had what I needed. That was more or less the last of the cancer fear. Days 10, 11, 12: Swallowing my pride On the flipping of omelettes, Julia Child said something like, “You just have to go for it. You must have the courage of your convictions!” 9 So it is with swallowing. “You just have to go for it. You must have the courage of your convictions!” Swallowing is not a thing you can think your way through. You must let the reflexes do their work. You have to just go for it.

Easier said than done, when you’re flustered. 10 I didn’t have any more difficulty actually getting food down. Nothing got “stuck” again — maybe a little bit once or twice, like a pill going down slowly, something I’ve felt hundreds of times in my life. Acknowledging this now makes it seem like it was all much ado about nothing, but it was scary as hell to live through. The low point was on day 12, when I was just so strung out and tired that I couldn’t get through a bowl of soup — even though I was quite hungry. But the next night, starving and pissed off, I ate about five pounds of sushi without a hitch. No bones. The end? After I got over the Great Swallowing Terror o’ 2014, the lump as I had known it died down steadily and hasn’t returned in several days. I doubt it’s the end of my throat story, and it may not even be the end of my globus — apparently it can be intermittent and variable in character for months at a time [already confirmed by the time of publishing this] — but it probably was the end of feeling bullied by it [also confirmed].

Now, about the whole “all in your head business.” I’ve left the most interesting part of the puzzle for last… All in your head…or not? Globus is usually considered to be likely psychosomatic in the absence of actual lumps or other physical causes. For example, although “the differential diagnosis is vast” (translation: there are many possibilities!) Finkenbine and Miele (2004) define globus in the absence of a mass as “a form of conversion disorder.” Conversion disorder is psychiatrist-speak for a condition ( Mayo Clinic ) “in which you show psychological stress in physical ways. The condition was so named to describe a health problem that starts as a mental or emotional crisis — a scary or stressful incident of some kind — and converts to a physical problem.” Specifically, a physically disability — an inability to do something, like walking, seeing, or swallowing. And so — assuming there really is no literal lump — globus is a conversion disorder. Which is a sub-type of somatoform disorder, a larger category of physical disorders caused by mental illness. Which is a good-news, bad-news kind of thing.

Good news that there’s nothing physical wrong, but … The worst diseases known to science pale in comparison to the chronic and untreatable nature of somatoform disorders. Oh, dear. When globus is not all in your head Although globus “may ‘simply’ be a local sensory abnormality just like tinnitus,” Kortquee lists several reports “of very subtle changes in anatomy that when rectified have given relief of globus.” 11 In other words, globus may be a musculoskeletal problem in nature, quite humdrum, just some little glitch or anatomical abnormality, probably quite subtle — a “harmless” sensory reaction to almost any chronic irritation of the throat. Here are some examples, from Kortequee et al and other sources: Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), chronic heartburn basically, which can be amazingly non-obvious gastric inlet patches — an area of cells in the esophagus that are behaving like the wall of the stomach (e.g.

producing acid) Eagle syndrome, styloid process pathology, the elongation/inflammation of a weird little bone in the back of the throat behind the tonsils arterial tortuosity, impinged and/or impinging — arteries can be surprisingly hard and kinky retroverted epiglottis — an abnormally curled epiglottis tip touching and indenting the tongue base corniculate cartilage subluxation — a slight displacement of a tiny cartilaginous structure in the throat thyroid nodules — just little lumps that grow on thyroid glands cervical osteophyte — arthritic bone calluses on spinal joints in the neck prominent greater cornu of the hyoid — overgrowth of a wee bit of throat bone hypertonicity of the upper esophageal sphincter — “tight throat,” basically Some of these, and others, are discussed in more detail below. Sometimes a lump is just a lump: a cancer example Sometimes the globus sensation is caused by a real lump of some kind — just one that’s not obvious at first. The medical literature is chock-a-block with examples of globus with sneaky physical causes that dodge diagnosis in the early stages.

One chilling paper describes a bone tumour growing on the front of the spine, projecting forward into the throat ( Wong 2013 ). A relatively smooth mass, covered by layers of tissue, such a tumour could grow for a long time in secret, slowly but surely pinching the throat shut. Yeah, creepy as hell. And I thought a fishbone was bad. But such a tumour would also be distinctively unrelenting. Bone tumours just don’t back off when you pop a Lorazepam, like my globus does. 12 A signature feature of a psychosomatic globus sensation is its sensitivity to emotional state, potentially as unpredictable as the weather. I can imagine some minor symptomatic ups and downs on the road to diagnosing such a cancer, the downward trend would be hard to miss — steadily changing from annoying to downright unpleasant. It’s a bird! Eagle syndrome A weirder example is Eagle Syndrome : a seemingly mechanical source of throat trouble that can act pretty strangely, like globus itself. Eagle Syndrome is an irritation around the tip of an odd little bone at the back of the throat, the styloid bone, which looks like the fang of a sabre-toothed squirrel.

The styloid can get too long and start to bother the sensitive anatomy around the tip, nerves and arteries. Except fairly often people get Eagle Syndrome symptoms — including globus — without having an abnormally long styloid at all. So that’s odd. Nor does a long styloid necessarily cause any grief! Not even close, in fact. 13 As with most musculoskeletal conditions, there seem to be X-factors that make the hazards of long styloid bones less straightforward than they seem. No one knows what those factors are, of course. Hot tip: the gargle blaster In the whole globus saga so far, gargling has demonstrated to me best of all that I don’t have a mass in my throat, that the globus sensation is an ephemeral phenomenon — a spasm that can melt away like ice cream on a hot day, in the right circumstances. Initially, I could only slowly and uncertainly relax my way out of it. I took all evening: a hot bath, a lie down, some deep breathing, sex, an hour of watching The Walking Dead (so peaceful!). But then I discovered that garling could usually put a stop to it almost immediately.

Gargling seems to relax the throat by stretching and vibrating it at the same time. A warm gargle may be even more soothing. It is a very unusual sensory experience. After gargling for 1-2 minutes — that’s quite a lot, try it sometime — I can get nearly complete relief from the globus sensation for at least a half hour, often much more (hours). Not bad. And quite informative about the nature of the beast. Maybe muscle pain? The relationship of globus pharyngeus and trigger points How does a somatoform disorder cause pain anyway? How do you go from a mental state to a physical pain? There are several possible mechanisms, but one of the most likely is the formation of so-called “trigger points” — mysterious patches of oversensitive soft tissue, particularly muscle. They are a well-described but poorly understood phenomenon, and crop up in all kinds of other chronic pain problems. Muscle is everywhere, so it can be the delivery system for an incredible array of miseries. Like painful globus pharyngeus, I imagine — though I have no evidence of it, only my personal experience and expertise.

I’ve written a large and heavily referenced book about trigger points , so I’m familiar with the science. Globus pharyngeus mostly just feels odd and “uncomfortable,” but it can also be outright painful. I’ve experienced plenty of that. What began for me as “just” a weird lump sensation eventually progressed to a constant parade of deep aches and pains throughout the area — like a headache in my throat. On numerous occasions I was able to get temporary relief from these pains simply by gently massaging my neck and throat muscles (eg 14 ) It’s even possible that trigger points are involved in non-painful globus. Trigger points exist in a “latent” state where they are sensitive only if provoked. They don’t cause pain in this state, but they might cause subtle muscular malfunction and sensory weirdness — which we are probably quite sensitive too in the throat. The same trouble in the back might barely register with us, or only as a “stiff back,” but even the slightest interference with the sensation of swallowing may be much more of a problem. Is it possible to tell if it’s in your head or your throat?

No, not really: it’s virtually impossible to rule out a physical lump with high confidence at first. There are too many ways that a physical problem could defy confirmation. As time goes on without any true lump being found, your confidence could go up fairly high… but it can’t reach 100%. Probably not even 90%. Nor can globus as a conversion disorder be confirmed in most cases — not even if you are lucky enough to experience a rapid and complete recovery. The only way to be nearly certain that it’s not a conversion disorder is to confirm a mass. And nobody wants that. That’s mostly only possible with worst-case-scenario diagnoses. If you suspect globus, treat it like globus as best you can, and see how it goes. Big news! Update, August 15, 2015 After ten months of intermittent globus pharyngeus symptoms, mostly mild but often awful, something big changed on August 5. I felt a sharp catch in the back of my throat, like I’d swallowed a burr or a scrap of rough sandpaper.

I rushed to the bathroom and flushed my tonsil with a syringe full of salty water, and… See the whole tonsil stone story on my personal blog for more detail. A stone came out! A hard, dark, jagged little rock popped out of my tonsil onto my tongue. I saw it happen. I scooped it out of my mouth with a Q-tip. And I have it in an envelope now. Yeah, smaller than a Q-tip head. But sharp as a burr, hard, and stuck in a fleshy crack. You do not want this. It is not an imposing size, but you would not want this thing in your eye, your tonsil, or any delicate crevice. It’s removal spelled immediate relief. Three of my non-globus throat symptoms vanished that day — symptoms I’d had constantly for a year. Imagine finally scratching the worst itch of your life. Imagine the end of Chinese water torture. Imagine something stuck between your teeth for a year, finally pried loose. Tonsil stones, it turns out, are a thing. Like kidneys and gall bladders, tonsils can form nasty little calcifications.

They are usually just disgusting, not painful, but sometimes they can get unpleasant — like a thorn in the lion’s paw. In this case, it was a thorn I couldn’t see or touch, just a maddening irritation deep in my throat. What a perfect way to provoke a nice case of globus pharyngeus! I assume, hope, and pray that the removal of the stone will resolve my globus problem. When I know, I’ll update you… ONE YEAR LATER: The fate of the globus after the stone came out Globus was not quite done with me. It seemed like a good bet that the globus would fade away after the stone came out, but there was also the ominous possibility that the stone was only the tip of a tonsil iceberg — where there’s one stone, there could be more. Morale was too low for optimism. I did not dare to hope. I just waited. My globus and pharyngeal freakout did wind down and stop after the stone came out. Hallelujah! But it was not quick, and it was not gone for good. Since then I have had several episodes of globus, lasting from a few hours to several days at a time.

Although there was a strong overall pattern of improvement — fewer, shorter, and milder episodes — there have still been some rough patches. I am probably still suffering from some on-going tonsil trouble: more stones and/or chronically recurring mild infections. It’s also possible that globus can become a bit of a sensory habit. Maybe I am now just prone to globus, with or without tonsil stones. Even when there’s no globus per se, my pharyngeal muscles often feel quite tight, and they tug and twinge and give me the impression that my throat may never be quite the same ever again. Nevertheless, this case of globus hystericus was clearly not hysterical at all (at least not originally). Far from being “all in my head,” it was definitely provoked by an extraordinary irritant, and it improved greatly when the irritant was finally removed. And, best of all, even though this problem still frustrates me occasionally, it doesn’t haunt me the way it did: it has become much less alarming, almost boring, and if it continues to happen in the future I expect to be relatively relaxed about it. The fear globus can cause is probably far worse than the annoying sensation itself.

About Paul Ingraham I am a science writer, former massage therapist, and I was the assistant editor at ScienceBasedMedicine.org for several years. I have had my share of injuries and pain challenges as a runner and ultimate player. My wife and I live in downtown Vancouver, Canada. See my full bio and qualifications , or my blog, Writerly . You might run into me on Facebook or Twitter . Appendix: A story about a real lump in the throat This is a true reader story about the difference between feeling like there’s something stuck in your throat (globus sensation) and actually having something stuck in your throat. It’s a you’re-not-paranoid-if-they’re-really-after-you story. Bill was definitely in the “actually stuck” category! If I were him, I would have stopped trying to eat poultry… I had this thing where food, especially of the meat variety, would get stuck halfway down if it wasn’t well chewed. This went on for a long time — about fifteen years — before an emergency surgery finally put a stop to it. My first notable incident was a Thanksgiving dinner and some turkey was the culprit.

I went outside and behind the barn at my parents’ place, where my disgusting noises would not be heard. I don’t remember how long it took to dislodge, but it probably was a good half-hour or more. I went on to have some seriously ugly episodes with it, sometimes taking a couple hours to clear my throat. I would have to do some pretty gross things to try to get the food down, such as sticking my fingers down my throat. It also would cause some serious pressure and pain and accompanied by ugly sounding heaving. It happened one time on a date. She was very forgiving (and worried). The final reckoning was caused by some grilled chicken. My very first bite got through virtually un-chewed and immediately got stuck. This one wasn’t going to budge. I was able to get the discomfort to stay relatively tolerable for the evening. It was still there the next day and all the way into the early evening. I would have episodes of severe suffering with the pain and pressure and also occasionally coughing up globs of phlegm. I had to pull over at one point while driving to deal with phlegm coughing/dry heaving/pain episode. It was hell.

I ended up going to the emergency room that evening, twenty-four hours after it got lodged. They put me under and pushed the chunk of chicken down. They also expanded my esophagus while they were at it. I still have the before and after pics somewhere. Apparently I had a narrow esophagus all of that time. I had an aunt who had the procedure done several times, so I guess it might be inherited. I’ve not gone back to have another expansion. I don’t think it’s narrowed all the way back and I also just make sure to chew meat very well. Only minor episodes since. If you can get any comfort out of the “other people have bigger problems” trick, that story should do the trick! Interestingly, Bill never suffered from any fearful swallowing awkwardness, and he never had a phantom lump — just poultry lumps! My experience was a mirror image of Bill: a relatively minor provocation created a huge sensation of throat blockage. People are different! Bill, for instance, seems quite a lot more stoic and badass than I am. Also more stubborn. Why didn’t you talk to a doctor sooner, Bill, why?! What’s new in this article?

Eight updates have been logged for this article since publication (2014). All PainScience.com updates are logged to show a long term commitment to quality, accuracy, and currency. more When’s the last time you read a blog post and found a list of many changes made to that page since publication? Like good footnotes, this sets PainScience.com apart from other health websites and blogs. Although footnotes are more useful, the update logs are important. They are “fine print,” but more meaningful than most of the comments that most Internet pages waste pixels on . I log any change to articles that might be of interest to a keen reader. Complete update logging of all noteworthy improvements to all articles started in 2016. Prior to that, I only logged major updates for the most popular and controversial articles. See the What’s New? page for updates to all recent site updates. Nov 16, 2016 — Added more updates about to the story about on-going episodes of globus, more integration of the implications of my updates, miscellaneous minor editing, and a new list of possible musculoskeletal causes (from sources like Kortequee ). Also added a mobile-only article summary .

Aug 15, 2016 — Publication. Notes Only painless at first. Later on, it became painful. I’ll return to that later in the article. BACK TO TEXT Probably just a little papilloma, very common, basically a throat wart — “A benign papillomatous tumor derived from epithelium” ( Wikipedia ). “These benign lesions rarely cause symptoms” ( Goodstein 2012 ). But they can get big! A 1930 case report describes one on the uvula “so long he could hold the tip between his lips. It caused him annoyance by entering the larynx and giving rise to coughing and spasm.” ( Neville 1930 ) Yes, that would be annoying! BACK TO TEXT I’ve actually had those nightmares. In particular, I’ve had clogging nightmares, where my plumbing fills with thick mucus, and I’m trying to pull it out of myself like rotting rope. BACK TO TEXT The globus marched on, but my head rushes stopped. If I had continued to feel that way, concern might have been justified — although even then I’m not sure how I would have known it wasn’t just more exhaustion. Context is everything.

I’ve had many days in the past when I had head rushes for no apparent reason — not even stress or lost sleep — days when I just randomly felt oogy, and it never amounted to anything. How are we to judge whether such symptoms are signs of something more serious, or just biological noise? We probably can’t. BACK TO TEXT I had a small Lorazepam prescription for help with insomnia. I am a champion insomniac, and have experimented with essentially all treatment options over the years. I have occasionally dabbled in the benzos, in small precisely timed doses, and found them to be extremely useful and effective when used in moderation. I dipped into my meagre supply for the globus in desperation, and was astonished by the effect: the globus went poof. It didn’t just “help” — it nuked it for the remainder of the day. BACK TO TEXT I am not right. My logic was flawed. More on this below. BACK TO TEXT This was more or less confirmed by the National Cancer Institute : “Most head and neck cancers begin in the squamous cells that line the moist surfaces inside the head and neck.

Tobacco use, alcohol use, and human papillomavirus infection are important risk factors for head and neck cancers.” BACK TO TEXT He unwittingly prescribed this to the assistant editor of ScienceBasedMedicine.org …probably the most authoritative source of homeopathy criticism and skepticism on the Internet. I politely and briefly told him what I think of homeopathy . Short of keeping my mouth shut, I was as amiable about it as possible. The inevitable lame defensive answer? “Well, I’ve been doing this 30 years…” Experience is not how these things are determined . If it was, we’d still be bleeding people. BACK TO TEXT I do a great Julia Child impression. Seriously. If this was radio, I’d demonstrate. BACK TO TEXT A physician friend, Dr. Rob of One-Minute Medical School tells me that this sort of thing can get pretty bad. This is also noted in medical papers: “The sensation may lead to difficulty swallowing or breathing and may become severe or life threatening” ( Finkenbine 2004 ). People can get so psyched out about swallowing that they do choke, and it becomes a downward spiral of fear and failure and more fear and more failure, and next thing you know, bam, feeding tube.

It happens. I believe it, after this experience. BACK TO TEXT Lump in the Throat (Globus Pharyngeus) Lump in the Throat (Globus Pharyngeus) Products used to treat reflux-triggered globus sold on Amazon.com: by Dr. Christopher Chang , last modified on 9/13/16 If you like this article, please comment below ! "Help! There is a lump in my throat!" This complaint may be expressed at any age or gender. This lump in the throat sensation (also known as globus pharyngeus or hystericus), is a common complaint that many patients have when presenting to their physician (if you can actually see or feel a mass in the neck, click here for more information). This lump or swollen sensation in the neck is most often described as "annoying," but not painful. The sensation is more pronounced when swallowing and may even interfere somewhat with swallowing whether it be solids or liquids. Often, a person may feel compelled to swallow a second or third time to make sure things get down.

The lump itself is described to be roughly the size of a golf ball or as small as a vitamin pill and is precisely located in the middle of the neck right above the sternum and below the Adam's Apple. If the lump sensation is ABOVE the Adam's Apple, click here as the following section does not apply to you. If it is located in the mouth, click here . If you have mainly a phlegmy/mucus sensation, click here . If your symptoms are mainly throat clearing, click here . One must first understand a bit of anatomy in this region in order to understand the various causes of globus and their treatment. The midline external neck landmarks going from superior to inferior is composed of the chin, hyoid bone, Adam's Apple (laryngeal incisure), thyroid cartilage, cricoid cartilage, rings of the trachea (windpipe), and finally sternum. In the photo, the person is pointing exactly on the cricoid cartilage, which coincidentally, is where individuals with globus pharyngeus complain the lump sensation is located. Landmarks are identified below (modification of image taken from Wikipedia ).

Behind and anchored to the cricoid cartilage, there is a muscle called the cricopharyngeal muscle that makes a sling around the esophagus (or swallowing tube that leads to the stomach from the mouth). This muscle acts like a sphincter to prevent food from coming back into the mouth after swallowing. This sphincteric muscle is what causes the lump sensation in the throat when it becomes too tight for one reason or another! So, why would it become tight resulting in the lump sensation? Reflux may cause this muscle to tighten up in order to prevent acid (and even non-acid mucus reflux ) from the stomach from spilling up into the voicebox and mouth. Heartburn is NOT usually present, though treatment with anti-reflux medications is the same. Read more about reflux here . Increased stress may cause this muscle to constrict more strongly, exactly like the lump that forms in the throat when a person is trying to hold back from crying while watching a very sad movie. Indeed, we see quite a few patients with globus who are in the middle of a divorce, students in the middle of final exams, death in the family, workplace strife (hate the boss or co-worker), etc.

Reflux and stress are by far the most common causes of globus. Rarely, cricopharyngeal muscle or esophageal pathology may also cause this sensation when the muscle scars, hypertrophies, or becomes chronically spastic or the lining of the esophagus develops a ring , shelf, or stricture . Even more rarely, a Zenker's Diverticulum or eosinophilic esophagitis may be present. A mucosal lesion may cause this sensation. Such lesions may be due to trauma (swallowing a small piece of bone) or ulcer ("canker" sore of the throat). In this particular scenario, the sensation is described as slightly off to one side and the size of a peanut. Lastly, a mass of some kind can cause this sensation. Such masses may include cancer, cysts, granulomas, large thyroid , etc. Keep in mind, however, that though people think their thyroid may be causing their symptoms of globus, only very RARELY is this the case.

The only times when the thyroid may be a factor is when it gets so big to the point it becomes clearly obvious (think an orange-sized mass growing out from the neck), or if the thyroid encircles the esophagus which is also exceedingly rare. In rare cases, the globus sensation is nothing physical at all, but a type of neuropathy ( link ). Treatment tries to address the underlying cause of globus pharyngeus. As an initial exam, a baseline fiberoptic endoscopy is performed to visualize the area of concern. With reflux , proton pump inhibitors (ie, Prilosec ) are often tried for at least 3-4 weeks though in some people, it may take up to 3-6 months for adequate resolution. Non-acidic reflux may also be present for which standard reflux medications do not work as well. With stress, explanation alone is often sufficient. Should symptoms persist despite addressing external stressors and taking anti-reflux medications for sufficient amount of time, a barium swallow and/or upper esophageal manometry is ordered to assess whether the muscle itself may be abnormal. Additionally, a 24 hour pH probe and multichannel intraluminal impedance testing may be recommended.

If the barium swallow comes back abnormal, an esophagoscopy may need to be performed. For whatever reason, dehydration seems to be a contributing factor for globus and drinking water seems to help in a significant number of patients. Watch Video of How a 24 hour pH and Impedance Testing is Performed Procedures to relieve cricopharyngeal muscle hypertrophy, spasticity, or scarring include esophageal dilatation with or without botox injection as well as the more aggressive cricopharyngeal myotomy. Typically, barium swallow and manometry testing must be performed prior to these interventions. When dealing with masses, treatment is usually excision or biopsy for diagnostic purposes. Eosinophilic esophagitis can only be diagnosed on biopsies taken during EGD (performed by gastroenterologist). If globus pharyngeus is affecting your quality of life, please contact our office for an appointment. Related Blog Articles

Question: What is the name for the lump in a human throat?
Answer: Adam's Apple