8 harmless and dangerous causes of a lump in your throat

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Try breathing deeply or swallowing several times. If you feel better, you don't have to worry.

What is a lump in the throat

This is the name of the unpleasant sensation, as if something was stuck in the throat. At the same time, you are sure that you have not swallowed anything superfluous and that there are no foreign objects in your esophagus.

In most cases, the nasty lump is harmless. If it is your first time or appears no more than once every few months, you don't have to worry. Most likely, nothing terrible happens to you.

But sometimes a lump in the throat is one of the first symptoms of serious illness.

Where does a lump in the throat come from?

The causes of a lump in the throat are very different. Dozens of vital vessels and muscles, esophagus, thyroid gland are concentrated in the neck area. There are also cervical vertebrae, which sometimes pinch the nerve endings. And the trachea, into which the larynx passes, is a frequent victim of colds. Failure of any of these elements - and here it is, a lump.

In general, there is no definite diagnosis that would correlate with a lump in the throat. However, you can list the reasons for What Causes a Lump in Your Throat? which often make it difficult to breathe and swallow freely.

1. Acute stress

Nervous tension can cause vasospasm in the throat. Subjectively, this is perceived as a pressing, bursting feeling.

Up to 96% of all patients complaining of whom say Globus pharyngeus: A review of its etiology, diagnosis and treatment, that discomfort increases during periods of intense anxiety. So you just need to calm down.

2. Muscle spasm

When we are not talking or eating, the muscles in the pharynx and larynx relax. But it happens that they relax incorrectly, freezing in a not entirely natural position.

Such a lump disappears if you speak or swallow intensely several times.

3. Acid reflux

This is the name of the situation when the contents of the stomach, along with acid, rises through the esophagus. The most famous symptom of this disorder is the familiar heartburn.

But not by her alone … The splashed stomach acid burns the esophagus. As a result, muscle spasm or tissue edema may occur. In addition to heartburn, a lump develops in the throat.

4. Postnasal syndrome

This complex formulation describes a fairly simple thing. You have snot, there are many of them, but for some reason you do not get rid of them. For example, you have a habit of sucking in mucus rather than blowing your nose. Snot collects in the back of the throat and sometimes comes down in one lump. This is how an unpleasant bursting sensation appears.

5. ENT diseases

Pharyngitis and tonsillitis cause painful inflammation in the pharynx. This is how edema appears, and in some cases even an abscess, which is perceived as a lump in the throat.

By the way, this is extremely dangerous: such a lump, increasing in size, is capable of blocking the airways.

6. Displacement of the vertebrae in the cervical spine

Cervical osteochondrosis, or displacement caused by trauma, affects the nerve endings in the neck. This often leads to muscle and vascular spasm.

7. Diseases of the thyroid gland

Sometimes disturbances in the work of the thyroid gland are accompanied by its enlargement or the formation of large nodes in it. An overgrown (sometimes even slightly) organ crushes Characteristics of thyroid nodules causing globus symptoms. on the esophagus and trachea, causing discomfort.

8. Tumors

An intractable lump manifests itself as benign neoplasms of the oropharynx, trachea, esophagus, and dangerous diseases such as Throat cancer of the throat or Merkel's carcinoma.

What to do if you have a lump in your throat

Given the variety of reasons, the answer is in a wide range: from "Nothing, it will pass by itself" to "Run to the doctor before it's too late!"

To roughly understand which of these poles you are closer to, mark the statements with which you agree.

1. The unpleasant sensation does not go away if you inhale or swallow vigorously several times.
2. You feel a lump in your throat regularly.
3. It is accompanied by stomach pain and / or heartburn.
4. Your throat hurts.
5. You have a fever.
6. A lump in your throat can make it difficult to breathe.
7. You often have headaches, sometimes the pressure rises sharply, there is discomfort in the neck and back.
8. A lump in the throat appeared on the background of muscle weakness and unreasonable weight loss.
9. You cannot swallow normally.

Are there any statements that you would agree with not on the list? Most likely, you are fine: the lump in your throat is accidental and caused by excitement or muscle spasm. Calm down, take a couple of deep breaths - this will help relax the vessels and muscles and quickly relieve the condition.

If you have noted at least one of the statements, do not hesitate to visit your doctor. You may be okay. However, there is a risk that a lump in the throat is a symptom of a dangerous disease, which is important to diagnose and begin to treat it as soon as possible.

The therapist will listen to you, examine the throat and, if necessary, either prescribe treatment or give a referral to a specialized specialist - a gastroenterologist, ENT, surgeon or oncologist.