Feeling Something Stuck in Your Throat? Neurogenic Dysphagia, the Symptom Where Stress Constricts the Throat

Today, we also refer to plum-pit qi symptoms as neurogenic dysphagia or globus hystericus. In most cases, patients receive no specific diagnosis of abnormality even after undergoing an endoscope examination or other tests at a hospital. Why, then, do you constantly feel a stifling sensation in an otherwise healthy throat? The secret lies in our autonomic nervous system and the brain-gut axis. Persistent stress or anxiety exerts a major influence on our brain, which quickly disrupts the balance of the autonomic nervous system. The autonomic nervous system is divided into sympathetic and parasympathetic nerves; when stressed, the sympathetic nerve becomes excessively activated. The sympathetic nerve causes our body to perceive an emergency state, tensing muscles and reducing digestive function. During this process, throat muscles—especially the pharyngeal constrictor muscle and cricopharyngeus muscle, which play crucial roles in swallowing food—become excessively tense. This excessive muscular tension creates a foreign body sensation as if something is caught, even when there is no actual physical blockage. Furthermore, the close interaction with the brain-gut axis, or more precisely the brain-esophagus axis, is also important. When stress signals arise in the brain, they are transmitted to the esophagus via pathways like the vagus nerve, which can alter the motility of esophageal muscles or cause hypersensitivity within the esophagus. Consequently, even a small amount of acid reflux or mild esophageal irritation produces much stronger discomfort than usual. This phenomenon is also called visceral hypersensitivity. As the nerves around the esophagus become sensitized by stress, one feels a foreign body sensation or pain even when nothing is actually there. In fact, this symptom tends to worsen when accompanied by anxiety or depressive feelings. Because it is not merely a problem of the throat, but a physical signal resulting from the complex interplay of stress and emotion, fundamental stress management is paramount.