Why Do I Feel Something Stuck in My Throat? (2024)

A feeling of having “something” stuck in the throat is a fairly common experience. In some cases, there may not be any food or a foreign object stuck in the esophagus (food tube), but it feels as though there is.

The feeling can last for a few minutes to several days and sometimes causes pain but is usually more often described as being an uncomfortable annoyance. It’s important to know if there is actually food or an object in the throat or if there is only the feeling that there is.

This article will discuss the potential reasons for the feeling of something stuck in the throat (globus) and how it might be investigated and treated.

Causes: Feeling of Something Stuck in Throat

A feeling of a lump in the throat or something being in the throat could be a symptom of a condition that affects the esophagus. Or it could be a problem all its own that doesn’t have an organic cause.

Dysphagia

"Dysphagia" is the term for having difficulty swallowing. There are many different causes of dysphagia. When dysphagia is a problem, there is the potential for something, such as food, to be stuck in the throat, which is called a food obstruction.

A food obstruction doesn’t block their airway, so it’s not choking. However, there might be the potential for that food to get dislodged from the esophagus and wind up in the windpipe. This could cause choking. A food bolus is painful and a reason to seek medical care to have it removed safely.

Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD)

GERD is a common condition in which the stomach contents move back up into the esophagus. This leads to symptoms such as indigestion or heartburn. The stomach acids irritate the esophagus. This can feel like something is caught in the throat when nothing is there.

Globus Pharyngeus

Globus is the feeling in the throat and/or the chest that something is stuck, but nothing is there. It tends to be longer lasting and may lead to seeking medical care out of concern something is wrong with the esophagus.

It can be a nuisance and uncomfortable. It can also lead people to try to alleviate the discomfort by clearing their throat or coughing. This could, in turn, lead to irritation.

When people seek medical care for this problem, it may be necessary to look inside the throat with an endoscopic procedure (using a flexible tube with a camera inserted through the mouth or nose). This can help ensure that nothing is there because even a tiny object or piece of food could lead to the feeling that something larger is stuck.

How to Stop the Feeling of Something Stuck in Your Throat

In some cases, changing a few habits could help alleviate the feeling of pressure. One of these is avoiding clearing the throat or coughing. One tip from researchers is to sip fizzy (carbonated) water when the urge to cough arises.

Also recommended is to avoid smoking cigarettes, secondhand smoke, or drinking alcoholic or caffeinated beverages.

One reason for globus could be feeling anxiety or stress. This is not an easy problem to address. However, it could mean avoiding situations that cause anxiety or stress that lead to symptoms. A mental health professional might help determine how to manage this aspect of globus.

Aside from lifestyle changes, treatments might need to be prescribed or recommended by a healthcare provider.

Seeing a Provider for Throat Stuck Feeling

A persistent feeling of something stuck in the throat when there is nothing there is a reason to see a healthcare provider. They may need to assess you and look for a condition that is causing the sensation.

Healthcare providers will want to avoid unnecessary testing whenever possible, so the first step might be taking a medical history and performing a physical exam, especially of the neck. A healthcare provider may palpate (feel) the neck and look into the nose, throat, and airway with a small scope.

At this point, it might be decided that the stuck feeling is not due to a condition or a disease process. If it’s thought that there could be an underlying condition, tests that could be used include:

• Endoscopy examines the inside of the throat by inserting a flexible tube that has a camera and a light on the end through the mouth and down into the esophagus.
  
• Manometry detects the movement of muscles in the esophagus through the use of sensors that are placed in the throat (such as with a special type of balloon).
• pH monitoring and 24‑h multichannel intraluminal impedance involve inserting a catheter (small hollow tube) down the nose and into the stomach to measure acid levels. this test might not be used as often as it was in years past.
• Ultrasound imaging uses sound waves to help see the structures in the throat.
• X-ray or computed tomography (CT) scan of the neck and chest to look at those structures

If a disease or condition is found, it will be treated as needed. If there is no physical reason seen for the sensation, treatment might include the use of some medications.

Testing for GERD tends to be invasive and expensive, so some recommendations include using a trial of a proton pump inhibitor (PPI), such as Nexium (esomeprazole) or Prilosec (omeprazole). If the symptom improves, that might be used as proof that it was related to GERD.

Speech therapy might be recommended in some cases. Some small studies have shown that relaxation techniques taught in speech therapy could be helpful in resolving symptoms.

Globus could also be tied to the functioning of the vagus nerve. The vagus nerve runs from the brain to the large intestine. There’s no good research on how exactly this nerve may be involved or how to treat it. A combination of the drugs flupentixol/melitracen (both psychoactive drugs) has been tried to reduce the sensitivity of the vagus nerve.

Globus might also be associated with mental health conditions such as anxiety (the feeling of having a lump in the throat). Treatment from a mental health care provider could include cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT),hypnotherapy-assisted relaxation, or prescription antidepressant medication.

When There Is a Stuck Object

If there is food stuck in the throat, a healthcare provider will be able to help remove it. This might be done with an endoscopy.

The first step in determining if there is something stuck, what it is, and where it is located might be a plain X-ray. However, items that might not show up on an X-ray includethin metal, wood, plastic, glass, and bones (such as fish or chicken).

If the object or food stuck is difficult to visualize with a plain X-ray, a computed tomography (CT) scan might be used. This may help in finding out if there is a problem, such as a perforation (hole) in the esophagus, that might need to be treated.

If there is a piece of food, something sharp, or button batteries stuck in the esophagus, the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ESGE)recommends the use of anesophagogastroduodenoscopy to dislodge it. This should be done within 24 hours to avoid increasing the risk of complications. In this procedure, a flexible tube is inserted into the mouth and down into the esophagus.

Tools are passed through the tube to reach the item that’s stuck. Food might be pushed down into theesophagus so it reaches the stomach, or it might be removed. Foreign objects might be retrieved through the mouth.

After the emergency is over, a healthcare provider might recommend more testing to see if there is a reason for the food becoming stuck. That could lead to a diagnosis of a problem with the esophagus that might need treatment.

The process of treating the obstruction might lead to inflammation in the esophagus. There might be the need to prescribe a PPI or use another procedure if there is a narrowing in the esophagus.

Summary

The feeling of something stuck in one’s throat (globus) can be constant or it can come and go. If there isn’t a disease or a condition causing it, making some lifestyle changes may help in making the feeling go away.

If it persists, it’s a reason to see a healthcare provider and try to determine a cause and create a treatment plan. In the case of choking, call 911 and seek emergency medical attention.