It is possible that some amount of soft foods are sticking in your throat—probably your epiglottic vallecula; this might be more apparent when you are having a mild allergic reaction, making that area of your throat more sensitive. (Wiki fails to mention that one of the functions of your vallecula is to catch bits of food that might be trying to fall into your windpipe).
It is also possible that one of your epiglottic sphincters, or the peristalsis in your epiglottis, has gone wonky, and food is having trouble making it to your stomach in a timely manner. As TezlaKoil says, in many cases this is accompanied by acid reflux. If you feel pain, see a doctor. Otherwise, don’t worry too much, but eat sitting up straight and take a swallow of water when you have this feeling.
Since you know something about these things, may I ask you a question? (I have consulted doctors, they didn’t find anything, and it’s just an annoyance really, but I don’t know what it is.)
Sometimes, after I have lowered my head forward, or pillowed my neck on my arm, or just tightened my scarf too much, I straighten (or not) and am unable to talk or swallow. I breathe fine, only my throat (lower forward) pains a bit and feels as if it has bent backwards. I rotate my head from sides and massage my Adam’s apple, and it goes away.
It’s mostly just inconvenient, but sometimes scary, too:( (when I think that it might happen when I’m asleep.)
So, some disclaimers: 1. you have not given nearly enough medical history for me to say anything certain in any case; 2. this is not my area of specialty (I am an SLP, but do not work with swallowing disorders); 3. I obviously cannot do any tests to back anything up; and 4. seriously, do not read this link and panic.
But, my first guess would be a mild case of esophageal dysphagia. That sounds like a specific diagnosis, but it is not; it just means that you have trouble swallowing, and the problem is probably in the area of the esophagus. This would explain the fullness in your throat, and would explain the pain appearing during those times that you change position so that gravity is no longer helping keep the food down. Your vocal folds and throat muscles are going into panic mode in case any food tries to go down your windpipe, so speaking would be unwise (I would bet that you could say ‘ahh’ if you tried, but don’t try). You can’t swallow because the food is in the wrong place—coming up instead of going down.
If you want to solve this, you will probably want to go to a speech-language pathologist; you should select one that specializes in swallowing—if you go to the hospital, they will pick the right one for you. The odds are that they will tell you to sit up during meals and not to recline for 30 minutes after eating, or something like that. If heart burn is a significant factor, they may give you medication for that.
While I do not think that the symptoms you describe are enough that I would recommend further testing, it is important to note that if there are other symptoms that you did not mention, this could be something that needs checking out. For example, if you had symptoms of an esophageal diverticulum, that would be something to get checked out.
Thank you! (It has, so far, nothing to do with eating, it just happens once in a while. I swallowed something sharp several years ago with food, which cut some small vessel in my throat, and I do not remember this to happen before that, but the doctors I talked to said it’s probably not connected. Anyway, I’ll be sure to check this now I have at least a formed question to start.)
It is possible that some amount of soft foods are sticking in your throat—probably your epiglottic vallecula; this might be more apparent when you are having a mild allergic reaction, making that area of your throat more sensitive. (Wiki fails to mention that one of the functions of your vallecula is to catch bits of food that might be trying to fall into your windpipe).
It is also possible that one of your epiglottic sphincters, or the peristalsis in your epiglottis, has gone wonky, and food is having trouble making it to your stomach in a timely manner. As TezlaKoil says, in many cases this is accompanied by acid reflux. If you feel pain, see a doctor. Otherwise, don’t worry too much, but eat sitting up straight and take a swallow of water when you have this feeling.
Since you know something about these things, may I ask you a question? (I have consulted doctors, they didn’t find anything, and it’s just an annoyance really, but I don’t know what it is.)
Sometimes, after I have lowered my head forward, or pillowed my neck on my arm, or just tightened my scarf too much, I straighten (or not) and am unable to talk or swallow. I breathe fine, only my throat (lower forward) pains a bit and feels as if it has bent backwards. I rotate my head from sides and massage my Adam’s apple, and it goes away.
It’s mostly just inconvenient, but sometimes scary, too:( (when I think that it might happen when I’m asleep.)
So, some disclaimers: 1. you have not given nearly enough medical history for me to say anything certain in any case; 2. this is not my area of specialty (I am an SLP, but do not work with swallowing disorders); 3. I obviously cannot do any tests to back anything up; and 4. seriously, do not read this link and panic.
But, my first guess would be a mild case of esophageal dysphagia. That sounds like a specific diagnosis, but it is not; it just means that you have trouble swallowing, and the problem is probably in the area of the esophagus. This would explain the fullness in your throat, and would explain the pain appearing during those times that you change position so that gravity is no longer helping keep the food down. Your vocal folds and throat muscles are going into panic mode in case any food tries to go down your windpipe, so speaking would be unwise (I would bet that you could say ‘ahh’ if you tried, but don’t try). You can’t swallow because the food is in the wrong place—coming up instead of going down.
If you want to solve this, you will probably want to go to a speech-language pathologist; you should select one that specializes in swallowing—if you go to the hospital, they will pick the right one for you. The odds are that they will tell you to sit up during meals and not to recline for 30 minutes after eating, or something like that. If heart burn is a significant factor, they may give you medication for that.
While I do not think that the symptoms you describe are enough that I would recommend further testing, it is important to note that if there are other symptoms that you did not mention, this could be something that needs checking out. For example, if you had symptoms of an esophageal diverticulum, that would be something to get checked out.
Thank you! (It has, so far, nothing to do with eating, it just happens once in a while. I swallowed something sharp several years ago with food, which cut some small vessel in my throat, and I do not remember this to happen before that, but the doctors I talked to said it’s probably not connected. Anyway, I’ll be sure to check this now I have at least a formed question to start.)