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Persistent sore throat (3 years): Could it be related to tension?
Hello! I’ve been struggling with a sore throat for nearly three years now. It gets worse when I talk. It feels like my throat gets tighter and hot as I talk. It hurts in one particular spot when I swallow. I get ear pain, jaw pain and sometimes my lower face feels numb. When I push on the outside of my neck where the hyoid bone is, it hurts in that area. I’ve seen so many doctors I’ve lost count! About 7 ENTs, neurologists, gastroenterologists, voice therapists and many many other doctors and nurse practitioners along the way. I’ve had a fundoplication surgery after a doctor convinced me the issue was acid reflux, it wasn’t. I’ve recently had my lingual tonsils removed, many biopsies taken of my throat and mouth, MRI’s and medication for possible Glossopharyngeal neuralgia but none of those were the problem either. I’ve been disappointed over and over again. My life has been changed by this in ways I never thought possible. It’s effecting my quality of life despite all my efforts. I recently found an article regarding hyoid syndrome. I found this interesting because the symptoms seem to line up with what I’m feeling more than anything I’ve ever found. It isn’t something that seems to be looked into much and I need to know if this could be the possible cause of my pain
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I’m starting to see all the connections between physical and mental illnesses
@andytheman
It’s very common that people don’t make the connection, as it has taken many generations of new teachings to finally get people to understand.
The mind/body connection is real.
Stress=inflammation
Stress=anxiety
Stress= tension
Emotional pain can be just a powerful as physical pain.
There are some back surgeons who will see someone complaining of “low back pain”
and ask them what they are currently going through in life.
Some send their patients to a therapist and miraculously their back pain starts to disappear after they have been taught how to react to stress.
The positive is you see it. Everyone can learn to be more mindful, present and take deep breathes.
I understand you’re in MN, but there’s a place in Boulder, CO that’s part of the Boulder Community Health network called the Center for Mind Body Medicine. Dr. Fanestil is an I rental medicine doc who specializes in physical pain that arises from emotional trauma/stress/anxiety and other events. He works on the fact that the body can have an actual physical reaction to the mental processes we have. The pain is real pain, but can’t be relieved by medication or surgery because there’s no damage to body tissue. Here’s a link to the center https://www.bch.org/our-services/mind-body-medicine/
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1 ReactionHave you seen an oral surgeon or had a massage therapist work on your jaw inside & out? My jaw may have been broken as a teenager & always clicked, popped, & needed to be cracked into place for as long as I can remember. In recent years, I had an incident where someone put an e-stim-like contraction in the front of my neck & chest area that was the Most Tight muscle contractions that I have ever experienced & included my anterior neck, sternocleidomastoids bilaterally, scalenes bilaterally, pect majors bilaterally, sub clavicular muscles bilaterally, & actually caused limited ROM in my upper neck. My arms & hands go numb in some neck positions. **DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME**: The strangest is that my throat hurts until I move my trachea left to right, seemingly cracking it, but it's actually crunching across tight muscles like picks across guitar strings, until I find the "right place" to leave each segment of my throat. I know when it's aligned because the pain stops immediately & as long as I massage the muscles along my throat, the pain relief lasts awhile. Do Not "crack" your throat. Talk to your Chiropractor about it. The only long lasting relief I got was "cracking" my trachea, massaging the outsides of my jaw, then the bottom from the outside, then the inner jaw from inside my mouth, then the bottom of my jaw from InSide my mouth. You can Really Hurt yourself massaging these spots yourself. I have been a Massage Therapist for 22 years & was taught how to treat the jaw interior & exterior. It can be excruciating & should not be done by an LMT who was not trained for it. They can also be bitten by you. My pain actually goes up along the outer sides of my tongue when my throat's really tight. The tongue pain stops immediately when I "crack" my throat & massage my neck & jaw. It's something you're going to want to coordinate with your Chiropractor & LMT. It's too painful for me to massage first. Maybe you might be able to massage your jaw & your trachea will align itself. As I said, it's not like "cracking" your vertebrae, as it's cartilage. The muscles & tendons are so tight that my trachea moving over them sound almost like I'm "cracking" them. You can apologize to your Chiropractor for my saying "cracking". Chiropractors adjust the bones. Since I am not, & for the sake of accurately describing how it feels, I'm saying "cracking". I really hope this helps. Tongue-thrusting also exacerbates the pain & tension. But I've been a tongue-thruster since I was a kid & only developed symptoms after essentially being electrocuted.
Have no idea where this post came from and is responding to. Did I miss something?
Are you still struggling with this same issue? I read your story and I feel like we have been on the exact same journey. I also live in MN. If you’ve found any relief or solutions, please let me know. I’m desperate for a change.
@meghand how do you release the sternocleidomastoids I’ve been getting massages almost weekly since 1998 mine is always tight , they work the front and loosen it up but then working my back and shoulders it tightens up again so I have to flip over and have them work the front again