If all the medical tests are done and everything looks normal, you might be wondering why you feel lump in the throat, like some object is stuck in it. It can be very uncomfortable and can cause real physical pain. On top of that, we get frustrated that there is no explanation to our symptoms and there is no underlying condition. At some point we even wish we had that medical condition so that we could start the treatment and release the pain. You can even find yourself going to ER with the feeling of lump in the throat only to receive shoulder shrugs and something like “It’s all stress” or “it’s the anxiety” or even more discouraging “It’s all in your head”. As a result, you feel hopeless and helpless as mind “matters” are confusing and not a quick fix as we wish for it to be.
Doctors have 10-15 minutes per patient in the Western world for a visit to figure out the reason of the lump in the throat as with any other symptom. It’s no surprise they can’t be your doctor and your therapist at the same time you get either medication prescription, test requisitions or psychotherapy referrals.
However if we tried everything and anything, the tests look good and your vitals are normal, it’s time to look at the lump in the throat from another perspective. What if your body is talking to you in the only language it knows – a symptom language?
Form the biological side, when our body goes into a fight of flight mode due to the unexpected, triggered and emotional situation, the stress hormone cortisol is released into the body to protect it and to be ready for fighting back or running away. This hormones make all the blood redirect its flow into big important muscles for a fight or flight response. So some tissues and organs in your body don’t get enough oxygen and blood (you don’t need them in the life threatening situations). Your throat is one of them.
What happens if an organ or a tissue doesn’t get oxygen – it constricts. That’s exactly what is happening in the case of the lump in throat. So, in reality it feels like an object stuck in the throat, like it’s hard to breathe. The further symptoms can include, hyperventilation, burning sensations in the throat, tight chest, increased heart rate, blood pressure fluctuations, numbing of some parts of the body (fingers, toes, ears, lips and even arms).
When trying to release the symptoms, we turn to different methods:
– Drinking water
– Swallowing hard
– Anti-anxiety medication
– Distracting from the issue
– Coughing it out
– Snacking
– Breathing techniques
And all these methods help but only for a small amount of time. Why?
Because we help the symptom not the cause. The cause of the lump in throat from the psychosomatic viewpoint is in the inner conflict not in the body malfunction.
Let me explain: Imagine, you are a doctor and you got contacted by a daycare, saying that all 10 kids have symptoms of poisoning. You treat them all symptomatically and everything looks good. In a week the kids go back the daycare and the next day you have those 10 kids with food poisoning again. So you treat them with enough hydration and some medication if needed. It happens every week, so now you get really confused as the kids keep getting sick and nothing helps permanently. You probably now starting to realize what you should do to help the issue resolve. Yes! Go to the day care and inspect the area for the cause of the poisoning, eliminate it and you have healthy happy kids again.
It is the same with any symptom we experience – physical or mental. We can treat the symptoms or we can find the root, eliminate it and restore our well-being.
Lump in throat is no different, if all the health conditions were eliminated by medical tests, we have to take mind body connection into consideration. From the mind body connection, your throat has a function: it a passageway of air, liquid and food. If you feel difficulties swallowing, it can mean not only food and liquid but also information, situation, people and words. Here are some causes of lump in throat (not medical):
1. Inability to express emotions, like anger, resentment, to stand up for yourself (a boss that gave you the feedback but you could say anything in return, a partner who criticizes you and you keep everything in not wanting to cause a conflict)
2. Receiving the information that you cannot or don’t want to process (the news about your ex marrying someone else, a friend who bought a house on the island and is living his dream while you have been thinking about this path for so long, your sibling getting a bigger portion of the inheritance)
3. The responsibility that is too big to handle (it feels like it’s too much, so you get anxious and feel the burden is hard to carry).
4. The words that are stuck in the throat (usually happens when we are too limited by social norms and beliefs and can’t express in words what we want and how we feel, or what we want to say may come out as rude and inappropriate)
5. Suppressing the tears (the situation is so unbearable that you want to cry but old beliefs hold you back from letting go)
Lump in throat is one of the most common symptoms of anxiety caused by social interactions and social relationships. Everything that we connect to speaking our mind, expressing emotions can manifest itself in the throat lump. The tonality of the conflict will determine the severity of the symptoms and the existence of other symptoms.
What can we do to release the symptoms?
The answer is always looking for the root cause of anxiety and the inner conflict that is in our subconscious mind. Inner conflict that are unresolved will most likely manifest in our body. And even though it’s hard to believe the direct connection between our mind and body, many unexplained chronic medical conditions remain a mystery for doctors and health professionals. Anxiety is one of them. Many methods have been introduced to deal with anxiety but not to overcome it.
Some of the most popular psychology methods include:
– avoiding the situations that cause people anxious feelings
– medicate the condition until the symptoms resolve (increasing the dose overtime, making a patient believe there is a wiring in their brain that causes them to be constantly anxious). While genetics play a role in our emotional state, it does now determine our future.
– expose patients to triggers making it less and less triggering over time
– Breathing techniques
– Physical exercise
– Mindfulness (you can try my free meditations to see how going inwards can help you with your issue)
The most effective have been the last three but they are also the ones that require the biggest commitment from the patient side. It means that the best way to work with our physical symptoms is to take full responsibility for our health.
You can help release the lump in the throat by working with your subconscious mind, by addressing the core of the problem so that the results are permanent and all pervasive. Find out how RTT Hypnotherapy can help you resolve the unresolved issues, and also find the answers to your most pressing questions.
With love,
Your RTT Therapist Kate
To work with me Book your Free Discovery Call here
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