The feeling of choking when eating is not necessarily esophageal cancer

Aunt Zhang is 48 years old this year. She is in middle age with elderly parents and young children to take care of. The family pressure is quite high. A few days ago, Aunt Zhang kept feeling dry throat, as if something was stuck in her throat. She couldn't swallow it down, and she couldn't spit it out. She happened to hear a friend who had esophageal cancer say that he had the same symptoms when he first got sick. This scared Aunt Zhang. She was restless and went to the hospital immediately.

The feeling of choking when eating is actually caused by plum pit qi

The doctor comforted her and asked about her recent life. "Alas! Something unhappy happened at home." Aunt Zhang said with a bitter face. The doctor then performed an esophagoscopy on her, and the results showed that there was no esophageal cancer.

The doctor asked about Aunt Zhang's specific condition and told her after a checkup: "You have 'plum pit qi', not esophageal cancer."

Seeing that Aunt Zhang was still skeptical, the doctor further explained: "Some people who have been depressed for a long time or are emotionally stimulated will have a foreign body sensation in the throat. They feel that there is a small object stuck in their throat that they can't spit out or swallow. But the examination of the throat and esophagus showed no abnormalities. This is what Chinese medicine calls 'plum pit qi', and Western medicine calls it 'throat neurosis', which is a kind of hysteria. Although these patients have a poor appetite, they do not have swallowing obstruction when eating, and there are no substantial lesions in the throat."

The doctor said that "plum pit qi" is mostly caused by emotional discomfort, so in addition to general drug treatment, psychological care is more important.

How does esophageal cancer cause pharyngeal obstruction?

Patients with esophageal cancer have obvious swallowing restriction, and the frequency or severity of choking increases with the progression of the disease. This symptom of swallowing disorder is not caused by the mechanical effect of esophageal cancer, but because the tumor gradually develops into small plaques or small papillae, protruding from the surface of the esophageal mucosa. When food stimulates the superficial lesions of the esophagus, it irritates the esophageal wall, thus causing esophageal spasm and the patient has a choking feeling when swallowing.

Aunt Zhang finds her happy life again

After listening to the doctor's explanation, Aunt Zhang suddenly felt enlightened, and the big stone that was pressing on her heart was finally put down. This experience also made Aunt Zhang understand the importance of health. She decided not to care about the trivial matters of life anymore and to live happily!