Have you ever experienced a prolonged feeling of a foreign body in your throat—a painless physical obstruction of some sort with a tight or choking sensation? Rest assured, you are not alone.
According to an article in the British Journal of General Practice, up to 45 percent of the global population has suffered the same at some point. This disorder sometimes goes hand-in-hand with a frequent need to cough, swallow, or clear your throat.
The condition goes by many names. Western medicine refers to it as globus hystericus, globus pharyngeus, globus sensation, or simply “lump in throat.” Traditional Chinese medicine calls it “plum pit throat” or “plum pit qi.”
Causes for the disorder—stuck qi or phlegm, stress, depression, fear or anxiety, gastroesophageal reflux, post nasal drip, or sinusitis—seem as varied as its names and the many symptoms that can apparently cause the mysterious lump.
Tangible or Imaginary?
Hippocrates first wrote about “globus pharyngeus” about 2,500 years ago, and Chinese physician Zhang Zhongjing wrote about the condition in his famous work titled “Shang han za bing lun” (Treatise on Febrile and Other Diseases) in the third century.
To this day, however, the cause of the disorder is still not fully understood and cannot be properly explained to patients. Regularly, primary care physicians cannot physically locate the lump that their patients are describing, and repeated ear, nose, and throat (ENT) examinations do not reveal any causes.
A 2018 study published in the journal of the European Federation of Oto-Rhino-Laryngological Societies (EUFOS) reads, “Although globus is a common symptom, only little is known about the etiology, and the causes have remained controversial.”
Controversial indeed, as research in the mid to late 20th century labeled globus sensation as a purely hysterical symptom, hence the unflattering title globus hystericus. Nowadays, however, “the research has been mainly focused on somatic causes and it is suspected that the etiology is complex,” the team of scientists stated.
Early Research and Treatment of Globus
Since the 1960s, researchers have wondered if the condition’s cause is organic or functional.
An organic condition has measurable changes in organs, tissues, and body systems, while a functional condition does not despite changes in function or abnormal symptoms.
A 1998 study in England’s Hospital Medicine reads: “More than half of the sufferers are overtly depressed [but] only a handful have hysterical personality. It is argued that it might be more appropriately viewed as a psychophysiological symptom of depression that responds to antidepressant treatment.”
Indeed, literature across the board—and across the decades—mentions the connection between the “lump in throat” feeling and both physical and mental-emotional signs of stress. This can include grief or sorrow over the loss of a loved one, just as much as fear, nervousness, or anxiety over a professional transition at the workplace, for instance.
Modern Approaches
More modern research finds globus hystericus connected to a bacterial infection with Helicobacter pylori, as published in an article in the Turkish Journal of Gastroenterology. In the study, 123 patients with a globus feeling were observed, and 75 (about 61 percent) of them tested positive for the bacteria. A significant number of these individuals also suffered from reflux, regurgitation, or other upper esophageal symptoms.
As a “common chronic disorder in industrialized countries,” gastroesophageal reflux disease is another connection and has, according to a 2019 paper, globus sensation listed as one of its symptoms.
The possibly newest technique to diagnose globus or its causes is cervical ultrasonography. The team of scientists claimed that this method of examination “identified thyroid disorders in patients with globus sensation, despite the normal ENT status.”
“Therefore, it would be appropriate to adopt cervical ultrasonography as a routine examination at ENT clinics for patients with globus sensation,” they wrote.
In primary care practices, doctors most frequently use the Glasgow-Edinburgh Throat Scale in attempts to diagnose their patients or gauge the severity of the disorder. Recent studies—one in 2018 in Japan and another in 2020 in Turkey—proved the scale as a valuable resource and confirmed its validity in cross-cultural adaptation worldwide.
Nevertheless, all efforts of modern research fall short of a definite explanation of globus sensation and its cause, as a 2018 Chinese study relates to the more traditional views of the disorder: “Up to 96% of globus patients report symptom exacerbation during periods of high emotional intensity.”
During that research, 3,360 individuals from urban and rural areas were asked to fill out a questionnaire regarding their experience and symptoms of globus pharyngeus.
“The incidences and severity of anxiety, depression, and sleep disorders were significantly higher among patients who presented with globus in the urban area than among those in the rural area,” the researchers found.
Natural Management Techniques
Given the history of research and decades of scientific misgiving regarding globus sensation, it seems reasonable to estimate that a high percentage of individuals who suffer from the condition could benefit from employing self-help techniques.
The following is a compilation of ways to lower your stress level, strengthen your nervous system, or employ natural herbs and remedies to “calm the spirit,” as traditional Chinese medicine would refer to it.
Herbal Remedies
Traditional Chinese medicine sees “plum pit throat” or “plum pit qi” as a condition of stuck qi or phlegm or an overproduction of the latter. As a remedy, the qi should be activated and phlegm be dissolved.
The American Herbalist Guild offers a six-page paper in which herbalist Jessica Baker outlines a treatment for globus sensation created in 220 A.D. It includes a recipe for this decoction:
“Ban Xia Huo Po Tang (Pinellia and Magnolia Decoction)*
“Ingredients:
- Ban Xia (Pinellia ternata) 9 grams to 12 grams
- Hou Po (Magnolia officinalis) 9 grams
- Zi Su Ye (Perilla frutesens) 6 grams
- Fu Ling (Poria cocos) 12 grams
- Sheng Jiang (Zingiber officinale) 15 grams
“Modifications [to the base recipe]:
- With more phlegm and saliva, add Chen Pi and Gan Cao
- With palpitations and insomnia, add Gan Mai Da Zao Tang
- With severe qi stagnation, add Xiang Fu and Yu Jin
“… cook ingredients in 7 cups of water, reduce to 4 cups. Take the warm, strained decoction in four equal doses, three times during the day and one time at night.”
Note: For all individualized herbal recommendations and dosages, please consult with your local herbalist.
This decoction is also a topic of a paper released in 2010 by the Journal of Traditional Chinese Medicine. The research team pointed to the elixir’s therapeutic value regarding globus hystericus and said that “its mechanism may be related to its function in relieving depression and anxiety and regulating the psychological state.”
Japanese traditional medicine features the same herbal extraction (but called “Hangekobokuto”), and an article in Biomedical Reports notes that this treatment for obstructive sensation in the throat “is well-known in North-East Asia for its effective treatment of psychological characteristics, stress and pressure of psychiatric disorder as well as bronchial asthma and impairment of swallowing reflex.”
Home-Grown Applications
Similarly, Western herbal medicine also has a list of plant-derived compounds, or phytomedicinals, to treat globus sensations. These plants may sound less “foreign” to you and, most likely, are much easier to source. In fact, you may even have some of them growing in your garden, tucked aside in your medicine cabinet, or on your tea rack.
• Passionflower—helps to eliminate tension that is stored in the esophagus
• Linden
• Hops
• Chamomile
• Lemon balm
Passionflower and chamomile are two of the featured herbs in a 2022 study published in the journal Pharmacological Research. Among other herbs, the duo shows promising results for the treatment of anxiety disorders. Chamomile has also been shown to be a useful herbal remedy for depression.
Passionflower and hops have proven to be successful in the management of insomnia related to anxiety. In a 2021 paper published in Planta Medica, a compilation of studies found in PubMed, Scopus, and the Cochrane Library databases from 2010 to 2020, found that passionflower and hops, in combination with valerian, were the “stars of the research” and showed “best results in clinical trials.”
As Linden flowers target both the respiratory tract (throat) and the nervous system, they are excellent herbal candidates for the treatment of globus sensation. Prepared as a tea, these petals make an outstanding non-narcotic sedative remedy to battle insomnia and anxiety, the University of Texas El Paso stated on its website.
Hops and lemon balm “have consistently been shown in clinical trials to relieve mild forms of neurological disorders, particularly depression, anxiety, and stress,” a 2022 study published in the journal Molecules states about the herbs’ prevailing medicinal qualities.
Physical Exercises and Stretches
Remedies for globus pharyngeus are not limited to herbal teas and extractions. Other methods include:
- Posture correction
- Shoulder stretch
- Chewing and yawning exercises
- Breathing exercises
You can consult your local chiropractor, physical therapist, or movement teacher for safe, effective personalized exercises.
Lastly, experiencing restful sleep is extremely important in the treatment of globus sensation. This can be a bit of a catch-22, as insomnia is a symptom of the disorder, as is depression, which is closely linked to sleeplessness, according to Johns Hopkins Medicine.
The good news is that improved rest is frequently one outcome of employing the various stress-release methods mentioned in this article. So one benefit will lead to another and create a snowball effect. In the case of globus sensation, it seems that easily employed, small steps at a time will work wonders.