We should not underestimate the power of the CNS over our body and all its processes. Sometimes the symptoms may seem dreadful and smack of thoughts of serious pathologies. The reason again lies in the vegetative nervous system. If it became difficult to swallow saliva, do not rush to put yourself false and terrible diagnoses (cold, tumor, thyroid gland, stuck of food in the throat). You should better analyze your life over the last 2-3 years and estimate your stress level. It is likely that your throat refuses to swallow because your nervous system has become critically inflamed.
Nervous Throat and Its Causes
Every patient has the right to get a full medical verdict, if it is so important for you to calm down and stop screwing yourself with terrible thoughts. However, there are three signs by which a person can independently determine whether his disordered swallowing process is related to the nerves or to some organic diseases:
The patient may not feel any difficulties with swallowing for some time after waking up. The brain needs at least 15 minutes to “remember” the current problems and prepare to repeat them.
- Cancer and problems with thyroid gland are not a laughing matter, of course. But they, curiously enough, do not cause pharyngeal spasms during ingestion of saliva. When such problems begin, the disease is already so obvious and accompanied with additional painful symptoms that they could be no doubt.
- It is enough to get into some activity and you won’t notice how saliva has successfully passed along its route into the stomach for several times. But as soon as the patient comes to himself, he cannot swallow again.
Where does pharyngeal neurosis come from, and why it is sometimes so hard to swallow water normally? There are several reasons.
Fixing yourself on the swallowing process | People suffering from vegetovascular dystonia and neurosis tend to focus on the most unpleasant and frightening moments of life. And if these “anchors” in the psyche are connected with the process of swallowing, it is likely that a person will develop a full-fledged neurosis of the pharynx. What causes can provoke fixation on the swallowing process?
These factors do not always lead to swallowing neurosis. The mechanism of their occurrence is described below. |
Spasm of the pharynx muscles | Regular stress, PA, unstable operation of the Central nervous system, dominance of sympathetic part of the vegetative nervous system leads to hypertonicity of muscles. The body secretes adrenaline and prepares to fight with an imaginary enemy. Therefore, the whole body is extremely tense, including the throat. It is not necessary to swallow when you escape or fight, therefore, the nature temporarily weakens the control over this function, directing all the resources of heart and brain. |
Dry mucous membranes | You can’t swallow saliva when your mouth is dry. If your mental state is unstable, it will affect the biochemistry of the whole body. Stress and neuroses, neurocirculatory dystonia force our body to “think” that it is on the verge of death. The body turns on its natural protection from taking inside what is unfit and harmful. There is a rise of the soft palate, tongue enlargement and hypertonicity of the pharyngeal muscles. The salivary glands are clamped and do not give out liquid. As a result, it is difficult for a person to swallow saliva. |
Strong stress | Stress and panic attacks force a person swallow air with his mouth quickly and superficially. The muscles of the throat are very tense. In such circumstances it is almost impossible to swallow anything. The patient can choke even with water. He is not able to take the pill and is forced to crumble it. When trying to swallow a person feels that the throat does not obey him. |
Phobia of suffocation | Fear of death from the subconscious leads to many symptoms that affect the work of vegetative nervous system significantly. There is a huge number of reasons why a person has a fear of suffocation (some factors come from childhood), and most often this phobia is expressed in difficulty in swallow saliva, and a lump in the throat. |
It becomes clear that antispasmodics and drugs for ARD in these situations will not help. It is necessary to visit a psychotherapist and try to solve the problem on a subtle, spiritual level. Meanwhile, many neurotics and people with dystonia claim that problems with swallowing saliva are just a symptom of the fact that you have lack of communication. Talk to your alarmist friends or keep a personal diary. Sometimes such simple steps can solve the problem, bypassing the long months of complex therapy.