Throat tightness on right side

Hello @karissa20, Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. Thank you for posting. I'm sorry to hear you have gone through this.

Have you talked with an Allergist? How is your voice? Is that effected with your throat tightness? I'm interested to see what the endoscopy shows- make sure to keep us updated, here. Here is a symptom checker that Mayo Clinic offers on their webpage- https://www.mayoclinic.org/symptom-checker/difficulty-swallowing-adult/related-factors/itt-20009075

Where did the sting take place? was it on your neck?

I have been referred go an allergist but it takes months to get into one in Canada. The sting was on my right forearm. Then it got infected, but the doctors wouldn't do anything for it for a long time. It took 4 months and now you finally cant see it. After I talk for awhile my voice gets very tired and I have to stop. Theres always a lot of phlegm on the right side too.

hmm, I would bet you will get some answers when they scope you- I'll check back in with you!

@karissa20 Here are a few of things you could consider about the throat tightness. You might still have toxins from the sting in your body contributing, but here are some other possible causes. I think it helps to try to understand how things work in your body when you're working with your doctors, so you can ask questions that might get them to think outside the box.

I'm presuming you haven't had a surgery that could contribute to throat tightness. I have allergies and post nasal drip myself and recently found that my allergies to my cats were not being well controlled by my allergy shots. I didn't think I was allergic to them because I didn't sneeze, but my doctor tested me and it was true, and I thought the shots controlled it, but not completely. I do have a HEPA filter running in the bedroom (and the cats are in there), but I was always clearing my throat and I have asthma. I made some simple changes in moving the HEPA filter next to the bed so it is blowing on my face at night, and I bought some high quality 3M surgical masks with ear loops that would be comfortable to sleep in, and that worked. We are vulnerable when sleeping and can't clear the phlegm out until we get up. I found that now I wake up without needing to clear my throat and without the post nasal drip or sinus issues and I'm breathing easily. I had enough phlegm that it affected me all day and I wasn't breathing well any time. If you try this, you could find out how much of your symptoms could be allergy related to inhaled allergens. I wear a mask anytime I know I'll be exposed to things I'm allergic to. You'll find these masks on surgical supply websites (also in drug stores, but they may be lesser quality and not filter as much). Look for something as a procedure mask to prevent fluids from getting through. Mine are 3M #1820 Procedure Masks with over 99% bacterial filtration efficiency of 0.1 Micron particles and are latex free.

I used to get a significant sore throat after eating, and that seemed to be caused by chewing on my old silver amalgam dental fillings. They leach mercury vapor, and since I had all mine replaced, that doesn't happen anymore. I tested this when I still had the fillings by eating without chewing (used a blender), and had no pain, then the next time chewing caused pain again. The fillings release mercury from the rubbing while chewing and that contacted my throat and made it sore for a few hours every time I ate something that was chewed. It also affected my thyroid, and that has improved now too since the silver fillings were removed. My blood tests showed antibodies against my thyroid were off the scale with the silver fillings in my mouth, and after removal of the fillings, they were low numbers. It has gotten better over the years and my dose of thyroid medicine is lower now because my thyroid has recovered some.

I did also have some very diffuse neck/throat discomfort on and off for a long time, and I was suspecting my thyroid, but my ENT told me that the thyroid usually doesn't cause pain. That turned out to be some pain related to cervical disc degeneration, and some muscle spasms that pulled on my neck and the bad disc. I have since been through corrective spine surgery and it doesn't happen anymore. Muscle spasms from an injury can also pull on the hyoid bone which is over the front of the spine spanning over the C3 vertebra. This bone can move and is the anchor for your tongue and is used in chewing and swallowing and for your voice. If you have tightness on one side, it can be shifted and make you feel like you are choking even though nothing is touching anything. This, I have learned from my physical therapist. I do have throat tightness on and off from my surgical scar tissue in my neck, and in therapy, we're doing myofascial release work to break up scar tissue which helps stretch everything out and get it moving again and in the right place. The tightness can pull up the entire side of my neck to my jaw. I was a bit of a complex spine surgery case because I also have thoracic outlet syndrome which makes my neck and shoulders tight with one side worse, so I am in PT working on that. You might consider a physical therapy evaluation of your neck, jaw and throat to see if things are aligned correctly. My neck tightness has caused my jaw and bite to be too tight on one side at times. Some of the physical therapy involved my PT pulling on my tongue to re-seat the hyoid bone, and gentle manipulation of it on the front of my neck.

Info on myofacial release http://www.myofascialrelease.com
https://www.verywellhealth.com/hyoid-bone-and-its-function-296913
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/thoracic-outlet-syndrome/symptoms-causes/syc-20353988
https://files.iaomt.org/wp-content/uploads/Fact-Sheet-Mercury-Vapor-Toxicity.pdf