Why does it feel like something is stuck in my throat: Brehan Crawford, L.Ac., explaining the feeling

Why Does It Feel Like Something Is Stuck in My Throat?

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    You swallow, and it is still there: a lump just above the collarbone, when nothing is there. Western medicine calls it globus. Chinese medicine has called it plum pit qi for centuries. Here is what drives it, a simple swallow test that tells you whether your symptom fits the pattern, and what to do about it.

    The short answer

    A lump feeling with nothing there is usually globus. Its signature is that it is strongest when you swallow nothing and eases when you swallow food or water. The two biggest drivers are reflux and a throat that tightens under stress, and checking it with dry swallows keeps the loop going. Chinese medicine calls it plum pit qi: stuck qi and phlegm in the throat. Small sips of warm water, an earlier dinner, and gentle pressure at the base of the throat with a slow exhale are where to start.

    The short version, on video.

    Why does it feel like something is stuck in my throat?

    Most often, because of globus: a non-painful sensation of a lump or foreign body in the throat with nothing there to find. A 2025 trial from Taiwan opens by noting that globus affects nearly half of the population.[1] In an online survey of 5,177 adults in the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada, 8.1 percent reported the symptom, more than reported heartburn.[2]

    Far fewer have it as a lasting condition. Using the strict Rome IV criteria, which require frequent symptoms over months, the Rome Foundation's survey of 54,127 people across the world put globus at 0.75 percent. It was slightly more common in women, and most of those affected were between 40 and 64.[3]

    The research points to the same two places Chinese medicine has always looked: the stomach below and the emotions above. That idea runs through the terrain approach to digestion I teach, and it is the work we do together inside Gut Brain Synchrony.

    Is globus sensation the same as dysphagia?

    No, and the difference is the most useful thing in this post. Dysphagia means difficulty swallowing: food or liquid actually sticks or slows on the way down. Globus is a feeling of a lump that does not get in the way of food at all. They are different symptoms with different causes.

    The tell is when the feeling shows up. Globus is generally unaccompanied by dysphagia, and it is often more pronounced when you take an empty swallow.[4] The Rome IV definition used in the large survey above describes globus as a lump sensation without dysphagia and without any structural or major motility problem behind it.[3] Chinese clinical descriptions of plum pit qi say the same thing in their own words: the lump is obvious when you swallow saliva on an empty throat, and it fades or disappears when you swallow food.

    The swallow test from the video

    01 Swallow nothing. Close your mouth and do a dry swallow. Notice where the lump sits and how strong it is.
    02 Swallow a sip of water. Take a small sip of warm water and swallow it. Notice the same spot.
    03 Compare. If the second swallow feels easier, and the lump is worst between meals rather than during them, your symptom matches the globus pattern.
    04 Know what does not match. If food itself sticks, if swallowing hurts, or if the feeling is worse with eating instead of better, that is not the globus pattern. That is dysphagia or painful swallowing, and it needs a different kind of evaluation.

    The test sorts the sensation. It does not tell you what is causing it. Globus has several possible drivers, and the rest of this post is about the common ones.

    Can anxiety cause a lump in your throat?

    It can play a real part, through a muscle most people have never heard of. At the top of the esophagus sits the cricopharyngeus, the main muscle of the upper esophageal sphincter. It stays closed between swallows, opens to let food through, and shuts again to keep what is below from coming back up.

    That muscle responds to your state of mind. When researchers in Canada gave 13 healthy volunteers a demanding listening task, the pressure in the upper sphincter rose by 11.8 mmHg on average, and by 20.8 mmHg in the first two minutes of stress.[5] In a 2021 study of 40 people with globus, 14 had a resting sphincter pressure above 104 mmHg. Twelve of those 14 had anxiety, against 2 of the other 26, and the higher the pressure, the higher the anxiety score.[6]

    The picture is not simple. When the same Canadian team repeated the stress test in seven people with globus, their sphincter rose about as much as everyone else's, and the authors concluded acute stress alone does not create the symptom.[7] The anxiety link holds at the population level, though: in the Rome Foundation data, 60.5 percent of people with globus had anxiety, depression or both.[3]

    The checking loop

    When the lump is there, most people keep dry swallowing to check whether it has gone. But a dry swallow is exactly the swallow that makes globus feel worst, so every check confirms the lump, and you check again. The Rome IV committee lists visceral hypersensitivity and hypervigilance, a nervous system that is over-attending to normal sensations, as central to these disorders.[8] The loop is how that plays out in your throat.

    Can acid reflux cause globus sensation?

    Yes. Reflux is the other major driver. A review in the World Journal of Gastroenterology describes reflux as a major cause of globus.[9] In a Korean study of 41 people with globus given four weeks of an acid-reducing medicine, 22 of them, 53.7 percent, improved by half or more. Those who also had reflux symptoms were the most likely to respond.[10]

    Timing matters. When you lie down, gravity stops helping keep stomach contents moving down, and acid can travel up toward the throat more easily. In a case-control study from Osaka, people who went to bed less than three hours after dinner had 7.45 times the odds of reflux disease compared with those who waited four hours or more.[11] That fits what I have written about eating earlier in the day.

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    What is plum pit qi in Chinese medicine?

    Plum pit qi, mei he qi, is the Chinese medicine name for the feeling of a plum stone caught in the throat that you can neither cough up nor swallow down. The idea is old. The Jin Gui Yao Lue, Zhang Zhongjing's clinical text from around 210 AD, describes a woman who feels as if there is a piece of roasted meat stuck in her throat, and prescribes one formula for it: Ban Xia Hou Po Tang, Pinellia and Magnolia Bark Decoction. The plum pit name came later, in the Song dynasty.

    The classical reading is two things knotted together. Qi that should move freely gets stuck when emotions are held, a pattern we call Liver qi stagnation. At the same time, a digestion that is not transforming fluids well produces phlegm, the thicker cousin of dampness. Stuck qi carries phlegm up and lodges it in the throat. It is the same map as the research: a nervous system holding tension, and a stomach sending things the wrong direction.

    The formula follows that logic. Ban Xia (pinellia) and Sheng Jiang (fresh ginger) send rebellious qi downward and dry phlegm, Hou Po (magnolia bark) moves stuck qi in the chest and stomach, Fu Ling (poria) drains the dampness that feeds phlegm, and Zi Su Ye (perilla leaf) moves qi and opens the chest.

    What the trials show

    The research on Ban Xia Hou Po Tang is small, and all of it below is in people. In the 2025 Taiwanese trial, 92 people with globus took standard medicines plus either the formula or a placebo for four weeks. Both groups improved on throat symptoms, anxiety and depression. The formula group showed a larger improvement in how the throat looked on laryngoscopy at weeks 2 and 4, with no liver or kidney side effects.[1]

    In a 2010 randomized trial of 95 people with globus, a modified version of the formula outperformed a standard throat-soothing granule at relieving depression and anxiety.[12] In 89 people with reflux that had not responded to medication, the formula beat a stronger acid-suppressing regimen for throat burning, hiccups and difficulty swallowing, while the medication did better for heartburn.[13] And in elderly patients with a weak swallowing reflex, four weeks of the formula cut the time to trigger a swallow from 11.6 seconds to 2.6, with no change on placebo.[14]

    How to get rid of globus sensation

    The practical steps from the video, and what each one does.

    01 Stop checking. A dry swallow to test the lump is the swallow that makes it feel worst. When you catch yourself doing it, swap in the next step.
    02 Take small sips of warm water. A swallow with something in it gives the throat and esophagus real work to do and encourages downward movement. In 32 healthy volunteers, hot water strengthened the contractions of the esophagus during repeated swallows, while ice-cold water weakened them.[15]
    03 Finish eating three hours before bed. This is the simplest way to cut night-time reflux, the kind most likely to reach your throat while you sleep.[11]
    04 Press Tian Tu with a slow exhale. Tian Tu, Ren 22, sits in the hollow at the base of the throat, just above the breastbone. Rest a fingertip there, press gently downward toward the breastbone rather than back into the throat, and breathe out slowly. Keep going for about a minute. In a randomized crossover trial of 80 people with globus, electrical stimulation through the skin at this point eased symptoms far more than sham stimulation did.[16]
    05 Breathe from your belly. The slow exhale relaxes the throat, and training the diaphragm helps from below too. In a small randomized trial of people with reflux, four weeks of abdominal breathing exercises nearly halved the time acid spent in the esophagus.[17]

    Give it a few weeks, and notice when the lump comes and goes. That tells you whether the gut or the nervous system is doing most of the work.

    Globus sensation questions, answered

    Is globus sensation common?

    Very. About one in twelve adults reported it in a large Western survey.[2] It becomes a lasting condition in a much smaller group.

    Is globus sensation permanent?

    It usually is not constant, but it can be stubborn. Reviews describe globus as persistent or intermittent, often long-lasting, and prone to come back.[9] That is why working on the terrain, reflux, tension and the checking habit, matters more than waiting it out.

    How do I get rid of globus sensation immediately?

    Stop dry swallowing, sip warm water, and press gently at the base of your throat while you breathe out slowly. It will not change the cause, but it breaks the loop.

    Your throat is telling you something about what is happening below it and what you are holding above it. Listen to both.

    — Brehan Crawford, L.Ac.

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    References

    1. Yeh HF, Chu YS, Hwang SJ, Chen FP, Lu YT. Effects of Ban-Xia-Hou-Pu-Tang and Western medicine on patients with globus sensation: A randomized controlled trial. J Chin Med Assoc. 2025;88(12):941-948. doi:10.1097/JCMA.0000000000001237
    2. Josefsson A, Palsson O, Simrén M, Sperber AD, Törnblom H, Whitehead W. Oesophageal symptoms are common and associated with other functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs) in an English-speaking Western population. United European Gastroenterol J. 2018;6(10):1461-1469. doi:10.1177/2050640618798894
    3. Raymenants K, Van de Bruaene C, Jandee S, et al. Putting Globus Into Context: Prevalence, Characteristics, and Overlap With Other Disorders of Gut-Brain Interaction. United European Gastroenterol J. 2026;14(7):e70277. doi:10.1002/ueg2.70277
    4. Alaani A, Jassar P, Warfield AT, Gouldesbrough DR, Smith I. Heterotopic gastric mucosa in the cervical oesophagus (inlet patch) and globus pharyngeus: an under-recognised association. J Laryngol Otol. 2007;121(9):885-888. doi:10.1017/S0022215106005524
    5. Cook IJ, Dent J, Shannon S, Collins SM. Measurement of upper esophageal sphincter pressure. Effect of acute emotional stress. Gastroenterology. 1987;93(3):526-532. doi:10.1016/0016-5085(87)90915-2
    6. Lan QL, Lin XX, Wang Y, Xu BB, Shu KY, Zhang XJ. The Relationship Between Upper Esophageal Sphincter Pressure and Psychological Status in Patients with Globus Sensation. Int J Gen Med. 2021;14:8805-8810. doi:10.2147/IJGM.S337165
    7. Cook IJ, Dent J, Collins SM. Upper esophageal sphincter tone and reactivity to stress in patients with a history of globus sensation. Dig Dis Sci. 1989;34(5):672-676. doi:10.1007/BF01540336
    8. Aziz Q, Fass R, Gyawali CP, Miwa H, Pandolfino JE, Zerbib F. Functional Esophageal Disorders. Gastroenterology. 2016. doi:10.1053/j.gastro.2016.02.012
    9. Lee BE, Kim GH. Globus pharyngeus: a review of its etiology, diagnosis and treatment. World J Gastroenterol. 2012;18(20):2462-2471. doi:10.3748/wjg.v18.i20.2462
    10. Jeon HK, Kim GH, Choi MK, et al. Clinical predictors for response to proton pump inhibitor treatment in patients with globus. J Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2013;19(1):47-53. doi:10.5056/jnm.2013.19.1.47
    11. Fujiwara Y, Machida A, Watanabe Y, et al. Association between dinner-to-bed time and gastro-esophageal reflux disease. Am J Gastroenterol. 2005;100(12):2633-2636. doi:10.1111/j.1572-0241.2005.00354.x
    12. Bo P, Chen QM, Zhu HH, et al. Clinical observations on 46 cases of globus hystericus treated with modified Banxia Houpu decoction. J Tradit Chin Med. 2010;30(2):103-107. doi:10.1016/s0254-6272(10)60023-4
    13. Song S, Zhang Y, Zhang J, Jiang Y, Gong A. Efficacy evaluation and exploratory analysis of influencing factors of Banxia Houpu Decoction in the treatment of refractory gastroesophageal reflux disease. Medicine (Baltimore). 2024;103(24):e38045. doi:10.1097/MD.0000000000038045
    14. Iwasaki K, Wang Q, Nakagawa T, Suzuki T, Sasaki H. The traditional Chinese medicine banxia houpo tang improves swallowing reflex. Phytomedicine. 1999;6(2):103-106. doi:10.1016/S0944-7113(99)80043-9
    15. Choi YJ, Park MI, Park SJ, et al. The effect of water bolus temperature on esophageal motor function as measured by high-resolution manometry. Neurogastroenterol Motil. 2014;26(11):1628-1634. doi:10.1111/nmo.12441
    16. Zhou W, Deng Q, Jia L, et al. Acute Effect of Transcutaneous Electroacupuncture on Globus Pharyngeus: A Randomized, Single-Blind, Crossover Trial. Front Med (Lausanne). 2020;7:179. doi:10.3389/fmed.2020.00179
    17. Eherer AJ, Netolitzky F, Högenauer C, et al. Positive effect of abdominal breathing exercise on gastroesophageal reflux disease: a randomized, controlled study. Am J Gastroenterol. 2012;107(3):372-378. doi:10.1038/ajg.2011.420