Throat pain

[ELT]

People on here were talking about choking on food, etc.  Some people mentioned that they also had terrible pain.  I found something on the web while I was looking for other info, about glossopharyngeal neuralgia.  

It's a condition marked by repeated episodes of severe pain in the tongue, throat, ears and tonsils, which can last from a few seconds to a few minutes.  It can be triggered by swallowing, chewing, laughing, speaking or coughing.  These areas are connected with the 9th cranial nerve.

Just thought you might be interested.

Erica

[Quixotic1]

Hi, I also have swallowing problems.  Sometimes it's like I can't get the swallow initiated right.  But, mostly it's with fairly dry foods, like meat, that stop high in my esophagus.  I feel them stop and then a spasm starts and sometimes gets incredibly painful.  If I try to wash it down I have had the water shoot back out my mouth very forcefully.  I have to take little sips until I finally feel it slide on down.

Shan - It is common to have to thicken thin liquids for people that have difficulty swallowing in time.

Erica - Yes, there is a painful condition called Glossopharyngeal neuralgia.  It is just like Trigeminal Neuralgia, but is caused by a lesion near or in another cranial nerve.  It can be treated by the same meds that are used for TN.

Glosso(tongue) pharyngeal (upper throat) Nerve is the 9th CN.

Trigenimal (three Roots) Nerve - is the 5th CN.  It is the main sensory nerve to the face.

Jen - Remember, just because they don't see a lesion, doesn't mean that there is no lesion there.  Many, many lesions remain invisible to the MRI.  When my neuro diagnosed me with Trigeminal Neuralgia he looked at my new MRI and said, "Well, I don't see a lesion causing the TN.  That's good! You don't want a big lesion in the brainstem!"  He totally understands that not all symptoms have a corresponding lesion to be seen.  It is there, but may still be invisible.

There will be a new essay on the Health Pages (probably next week) devoted to whether you will always, or even usually, have a lesion visible on the MRI to correspond to all symptoms.  The answer is "No," and I explain why.

Quix

[jensequitur]

I've noticed some problems lately with swallowing - like my tongue isn't moving the food around right, so I end up swallowing it before I'm ready for it.  Sort of a "Whups, too big!  Gulp... ah... phew!"  I'm also having problems with stringy food - the strings get caught in my throat and aren't going down the tube.

However, I don't have any lesions in my neck, according to the radiologist.  So it must be something else, but I don't know what.

[shan79]

Mom has MS and chokes on anything thin, such as water. They have her on thick liquids now to make water and juice "nectar thick". Its just a packet of thickener..