If you feel a lump in your throat and you\u2019re not crying, you may be like Cleburne resident Jan Swanson. She had the annoying feeling of having a lump in her throat for months before she sought help.<\/p>\n
\u201cI kept thinking this will go away,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cBut it never did. It wasn\u2019t horrible, but it was always there.\u201d<\/p>\n
Swanson went to her primary care physician, then to Dr. Ted Benke, an ear, nose and throat physician, also called an otolaryngologist, who performed a flexible fiberoptic laryngoscopy, where a flexible tube called an endoscope, which has a light and miniature camera, is passed into the voice box and throat.<\/p>\n
The results indicated inflammation suspicious for acid reflux \u2013 related laryngitis\/pharyngitis.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are 2 types of acid reflux \u2013 reflux esophagitis and reflux pharyngitis,\u201d Benke said. \u201cMany people think of acid reflux as simply heartburn\u2014that burning pain in the lower part of the abdomen behind the breastbone. But, in Jan\u2019s case, she never even had heartburn.\u201d<\/p>\n
Benke said acid reflux can cause many other symptoms, including hoarseness, trouble swallowing, recurrent sore throat, chronic cough, frequent need to clear your throat, feeling like you\u2019re choking, and the sensation of having a lump in the throat.<\/p>\n
Benke said Swanson\u2019s acid reflux was called LPR or laryngopharyngeal reflux, a condition that occurs when there\u2019s a backflow of stomach contents into the throat. He said that because the stomach produces a variety of different chemicals, including acid and enzymes, they can be harmful when they enter the throat.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany patients, just like Jan, have a weak lower esophageal sphincter, which allows stomach acid to move up into the esophagus, which may cause the upper esophageal sphincter to constrict, and that\u2014can cause the feeling of a lump in your throat,\u201d Benke said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat was the case with me,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cI had this constant urge to cough up a fur ball.\u201d<\/p>\n
Still, Benke acknowledges the symptoms can be scary for people.<\/p>\n
\u201cI have patients who come in and say, \u2018Oh, I know I have cancer,\u2019 but in many cases, it turns out to be LPR.\u201d<\/p>\n
And fortunately, Benke said, there\u2019s medication for it.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel great,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cOnce Dr. Benke prescribed medication for me, I started feeling that lump go down within a week.\u201d<\/p>\n
And, Swanson says she still feels great after a year and a half.<\/p>\n
Benke says in addition to the medication, he also encourages patients with LPR to change their diet.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople should avoid fatty foods and spicy foods,\u201d he said. \u201cThey should also eat fewer acidic foods, like citrus and tomato-based foods, because they can increase symptoms. Alcohol, caffeine and fizzy beverages can also increase acid reflux and chocolate can worsen it in some people.\u201d<\/p>\n
In addition to avoiding certain foods, Benke said, people with LPR may want to consider not snacking before going to bed, not lying down for 3 hours after eating and when sleeping, raising your head and upper body by 4-6 inches.<\/p>\n
\u201cOther things a person suffering with LPR can do are maintain a healthy weight, not smoke, and limit aspirin and ibuprofen,\u201d Benke said.<\/p>\n
If you are think you may have acid reflux because you are experiencing symptoms like these, call Dr. Benke Ear, Nose & Throat Clinic at 817-641-3750.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
If you feel a lump in your throat and you\u2019re not crying, you may be like Cleburne resident Jan Swanson. She had the annoying feeling of having a lump in her throat for months before she sought help. \u201cI kept thinking this will go away,\u201d Swanson said. \u201cBut it never did. It wasn\u2019t horrible, but…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"Many people think of acid reflux as simply heartburn... But, in Jan\u2019s case, she never even had heartburn.","_seopress_robots_index":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-throat"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4963"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4963\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/drbenke.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}