Dr. Hive: Did something get stuck in the flesh of my throat?

[joannqn]

I keep feeling this weird sensation of something in my throat. So, I got a flashlight and mirror and looked down there. Way down low (have to kind of gag to get it up high enough to see), there is a small, round white spot (about pea sized) with a dark black speck in the center. I make smoothies with frozen blueberries and have specks just like it all over my teeth when I'm done.

 

Is it possible that a speck of blueberry or something got stuck in the folds of my throat and then it grew over it? Or is there something else that causes white spots with black centers in the back of the throat? I hate that I can feel it constantly!

 

ETA: I have no tonsils.

[Hunter's Moon]

It sounds like a tonsil stone and a speck of blueberry just got caught in it.

 

Usually once a tonsil stone is felt, it will come out soon. I usually swallow them without noticing.

[GraciebytheBay]

If that isn't it, the feeling you describe is exactly what I felt when I had GERD (reflux). I insisted that they scope me because I just *knew* there was something there. Nope, just a common symptom of GERD. Weird. I hope it is something very simple like a blueberry seed!

[joannqn]

Well, I can't find it now. There is still a sensation of something stuck deep inside on the left side of my throat. It's way back there about the level where you feel for your pulse. But it feels like something tiny rather than the usual bigger something stuck in my throat.

 

I was treated for GERD earlier this year after a cough that wouldn't go away for months. It went away after 2 months of Prilosec. Then it came back after eating a blackberry I picked from a bush on the side of a busy street. Figured it was probably covered with road dirt or sprayed because it caused all my previous chronic pain sites to hurt again too. That took about two weeks to get rid of. More recently, I started eating more winter comfort foods and not enough fresh/frozen produce and the something-is-stuck-in-my-throat and some chronic pain came back. I'm back on heavy doses of fruits and veggies trying to get it all to go away again.

 

I can deal with chronic pain. I'm used to that. But I can't handle the throat sensations. It drives me batty. So, I've had smoothies for breakfast the last three days in a row even though they make me cold. I've had salads for/with lunch the past two days. I'm trying to get our dinners back up to where 1/2 to 3/4 of our meal is veggies. It worked before; I'm hoping diet works again.

[I.Dup.]

It does sound like a tonsil stone. Those things are so gross (and fascinating!)

[kalanamak]

You don't need tonsils to have a tonsil stone. I relax my gag through a little self talk and run by index finger down to the sore spot and push gentle. I gargle with copious amounts of warm salt water first. Sometimes it takes me a couple of days.

 

For me, it isn't actually a stone, but a bit of chopped nut. If I have chopped peanuts on top of an Asian dish, I get these once in a blue moon. After 3 or so, I learned to avoid nuts, and never them again.

[Catwoman]

JoAnn, have you tried drinking something hot? It might help. Otherwise, I hate to say it, but you will probably have to wait for it to resolve on its own. I know exactly what you're talking about, and it's a horribly yucky feeling -- and of course, I always make it worse by swallowing about 90 times a minute, just to see if it still feels gross. :rolleyes:

 

But try some hot drinks tonight and see if they help. I think sometimes the warm liquid helps to release the tonsil stone or something.

 

FWIW, usually when I get that same feeling, I feel a lot better in the morning -- probably because I'm not swallowing constantly and obsessing about it while I sleep!

 

Hope you feel better soon! :grouphug:

[Catwoman]

I relax my gag through a little self talk and run by index finger down to the sore spot and push gentle. I gargle with copious amounts of warm salt water first. Sometimes it takes me a couple of days.

 

You have no idea how relieved I was to find out that I'm not the only person who does that! :blush:

[kalanamak]

You have no idea how relieved I was to find out that I'm not the only person who does that! :blush:

 

 

"Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto"

 

I've also developed a really effect cat-chucking-hairballs sound. Have your mouth well open and a tissue up to catch the fly ball.

[Mergath]

If that isn't it, the feeling you describe is exactly what I felt when I had GERD (reflux). I insisted that they scope me because I just *knew* there was something there. Nope, just a common symptom of GERD. Weird. I hope it is something very simple like a blueberry seed!

 

 

This. Drove me absolutely insane until I got it all figured out.

[I.Dup.]

 

I've also developed a really effect cat-chucking-hairballs sound. Have your mouth well open and a tissue up to catch the fly ball.

 

I can make the same sound. It helps get them out right away (but I make sure to do it in private or it terrifies anyone around me, LOL. They are so gross!!!!!! I've tried getting them out with my finger (just pushing on the back of my throat) but I always get a throat infection, no matter how clean my finger is. When I do it with a Q-tip it's fine. Thankfully this doesn't happen often! I haven't figured out a correlating factor. But it is rewarding to get them out. :ph34r: