How does modern medicine explain this complex neck discomfort? Terms like cervical disc herniation and forward head posture are widely familiar today. Spending long hours looking down at smartphones or computers alters the natural C-curve of the cervical vertebrae into a straight or reversed curve. This is known as straight neck syndrome or forward head posture. With every centimeter the head moves forward, the load on the neck increases by two to three kilograms, placing substantial strain on the spine.
This posture puts continuous stress on the ligaments and muscles around the cervical vertebrae. Eventually, the discs between the vertebrae fail to withstand the pressure, becoming herniated or degenerated and compressing nearby nerves, which is known as a cervical disc issue. When a nerve is compressed, it causes neck pain and can also cause radiating pain, numbness, or weakness extending into the shoulders, arms, and fingers. In addition, excessive tension in the surrounding neck muscles impedes blood and lymphatic circulation, which can lead to headaches and dizziness.
What about the feeling of a foreign body in the throat? In modern medicine, this is referred to as globus pharyngeus or hysterical globus. In many cases, no abnormalities are found during an endoscope or imaging study. Rather than having a single structural cause, it often arises from a combination of factors. Misalignment of the cervical vertebrae can lead to excessive tension in swallowing-related muscles, including the inferior pharyngeal constrictor muscle and the cricopharyngeus muscle, which may produce this sensation of obstruction.
Furthermore, psychological factors like stress, anxiety, and depression affect the autonomic nervous system, increasing the sensitivity of the esophagus and laryngopharynx, or occurring alongside gastroesophageal reflux disease. The autonomic nervous system regulates involuntary functions such as digestion, heart rate, and breathing. Under high stress, the sympathetic nerve becomes overly active, causing the neck muscles to contract and reducing salivary secretion, which leads to throat dryness and a foreign body sensation. Prolonged forward head posture or cervical disc issues do not merely cause neck and shoulder pain; they can create tension in delicate neck muscles and cause autonomic nervous system imbalance, resulting in throat discomfort. Restoring autonomic nervous system balance alongside pain management is therefore an essential part of care.
