Found bump on back of throat

[Itneverends87]

Hello,

I obviously have anxiety and I’ve just started medication for it but it clearly hasn’t kicked in yet. For about month or so I have been getting a strange pain in my left ear, only lasts about 3 seconds and then it’s gone. It went away for awhile but it’s starting again. For the life of me I don’t know what prompted me to look at my throat but I did and there was a normal skin colored bump. I’ve had one physician look at it and he wasn’t concerned but he also didn’t know what it was. So I was hoping maybe someone could take a look and see if it is maybe something you have had before?

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[janemariesayed]

Hello there @itneverends and welcome to our community.

I'm sorry that you are in pain and suffering from anxiety. The only lump I can see is what I think is your epiglottis! If you are worried you can always see a different doctor who may give you a different result.

 

[Rinka]

Hi @itneverends sorry to hear that you are going though that pain.
I can see anything remarkably wrong in the picture, but well I’m not a doctor none of us are really.
I used to have ulcers at the back of my throat, due to stress and anxiety. Not always but if it’s much more then usual then it get those ulcers. It could be just that or weirdly enough a spot, like the ones you could get in your face. Might be that a salvia gland in the back of your throat is inflamed.
But if you are worried always have such things checked out with a doctor or second doctor.

 

[Natasha0717]

Oh boy, you have no idea how many of these photos like the one you have above^ that I've shown to doctors online, dentists, family members, anyone who would listen! (or look.) Okay, now you need to listen to me here. I went through this exact same thing about 5 years ago, but I remember it well because it was a true nightmare. Your throat looks normal. Your throat IS normal. I found a white dot on my tonsil that would not go away. I'd pick it out and feel really successful about it, and then it would return the next day. Which of course made me believe it was cancer. Along with the suspicious white dot/speck, I also felt like that part of my throat was swollen when I would swallow, and that side seemed like the pink/fleshy area looked raised, or like a lump. My ear on that side would also hurt, and pinch a bit...way deep inside. So then I did the reading and found out that ear pain is associated with possible throat cancer, and BAM! I self-diagnosed and truly believed I had throat cancer, possibly esophageal cancer. I even went as far as believing that food and liquid could no longer get past the "tumor"....so I pretty much stopped eating and drinking. I lost 28 lbs. and ended up at Urgent Care.

The doctor there took one look at my throat, told me the "lump" I was feeling when I swallowed was just my mind focusing on it (and nerves in general)... the white dot was either a tonsil stone or something (poss. plaque) from my wisdom teeth that kept wandering back down to my tonsil and settling there, and then he sent me home with Xanax. This is not a throat problem you are experiencing. This is an anxiety/OCD problem. And most likely, the ear pain you feel is from constantly opening your mouth and inspecting your throat...this gives your jaw and the nerves around the jaw connecting to your ear a real work-out...and that's what is causing that pinching-type pain. Also, ear pain is often related to a clenched jaw, either while you're asleep, or even when you're awake and you don't even realize you're doing it because you're so stressed out.

Forget about your throat, that's the first thing you can do to recover from this. Do not look down your throat with a flashlight (they had to hide all the flashlights from me in the house,) and remember that I am telling you that your throat is normal. But right now, your mind is not normal. (No offence, I just mean your anxiety is really bad right now and the OCD part of it has itself focused on your throat.) Give your anti-anxiety meds a chance. It took me a few weeks to start eating normally again, and then another few months to finally start believing my throat was not covered in cancerous lesions, particularly that one suspicious white dot sitting on my tonsil. And now, 5 years later, I STILL HAVE THE WHITE DOT on that tonsil..........but I no longer care. I am living proof that strange-looking things in your throat are not necessarily cancer, and that both sides of your throat do not have to match perfectly (size-wise). If it was cancer, it would have progressed by now, and I'd either be much, much worse with voice loss, etc., or I'd be dead. And here I am, no change. Everything I went through, that whole entire nightmare, was all orchestrated by my mind, and my mind alone. Don't do this to yourself. The first step: Stop looking at your throat.
Doc already saw it, and that's enough. You are fine.

 

[Itneverends87]

Oh boy, you have no idea how many of these photos like the one you have above^ that I've shown to doctors online, dentists, family members, anyone who would listen! (or look.) Okay, now you need to listen to me here. I went through this exact same thing about 5 years ago, but I remember it well because it was a true nightmare. Your throat looks normal. Your throat IS normal. I found a white dot on my tonsil that would not go away. I'd pick it out and feel really successful about it, and then it would return the next day. Which of course made me believe it was cancer. Along with the suspicious white dot/speck, I also felt like that part of my throat was swollen when I would swallow, and that side seemed like the pink/fleshy area looked raised, or like a lump. My ear on that side would also hurt, and pinch a bit...way deep inside. So then I did the reading and found out that ear pain is associated with possible throat cancer, and BAM! I self-diagnosed and truly believed I had throat cancer, possibly esophageal cancer. I even went as far as believing that food and liquid could no longer get past the "tumor"....so I pretty much stopped eating and drinking. I lost 28 lbs. and ended up at Urgent Care.

The doctor there took one look at my throat, told me the "lump" I was feeling when I swallowed was just my mind focusing on it (and nerves in general)... the white dot was either a tonsil stone or something (poss. plaque) from my wisdom teeth that kept wandering back down to my tonsil and settling there, and then he sent me home with Xanax. This is not a throat problem you are experiencing. This is an anxiety/OCD problem. And most likely, the ear pain you feel is from constantly opening your mouth and inspecting your throat...this gives your jaw and the nerves around the jaw connecting to your ear a real work-out...and that's what is causing that pinching-type pain. Also, ear pain is often related to a clenched jaw, either while you're asleep, or even when you're awake and you don't even realize you're doing it because you're so stressed out.

Forget about your throat, that's the first thing you can do to recover from this. Do not look down your throat with a flashlight (they had to hide all the flashlights from me in the house,) and remember that I am telling you that your throat is normal. But right now, your mind is not normal. (No offence, I just mean your anxiety is really bad right now and the OCD part of it has itself focused on your throat.) Give your anti-anxiety meds a chance. It took me a few weeks to start eating normally again, and then another few months to finally start believing my throat was not covered in cancerous lesions, particularly that one suspicious white dot sitting on my tonsil. And now, 5 years later, I STILL HAVE THE WHITE DOT on that tonsil..........but I no longer care. I am living proof that strange-looking things in your throat are not necessarily cancer, and that both sides of your throat do not have to match perfectly (size-wise). If it was cancer, it would have progressed by now, and I'd either be much, much worse with voice loss, etc., or I'd be dead. And here I am, no change. Everything I went through, that whole entire nightmare, was all orchestrated by my mind, and my mind alone. Don't do this to yourself. The first step: Stop looking at your throat.
Doc already saw it, and that's enough. You are fine.

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[Itneverends87]

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Oops, hit enter without typing!

I just want to thank you, so much. Your reply has really made me feel better. In my logical mind I KNOW this is anxiety, I know that but then the “what if’s” start and the cycle starts over again. I’m sure there are plenty of people who know exactly what cycle I’m referring too.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it.


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[Natasha0717]

Oops, hit enter without typing!

I just want to thank you, so much. Your reply has really made me feel better. In my logical mind I KNOW this is anxiety, I know that but then the “what if’s” start and the cycle starts over again. I’m sure there are plenty of people who know exactly what cycle I’m referring too.

Again, thank you for taking the time to reply, I really appreciate it.


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No problem, I hate to see somebody going through the exact same thing I did. And I knew my story would come in handy one day. I remember it like it was yesterday. Good Luck to you, and remember, no more throat-checking. It's fine.

 

[Concernedgal]

Oh my goodness. Hi @Natasha0717. Long time since i've heard from you. How are you?

 

[Natasha0717]

Oh my goodness. Hi @Natasha0717. Long time since i've heard from you. How are you?

Hi! I've been around. Still getting our house fixed up and it has been one longgg process. Other than that, everything's okay. How are you? Nice to see ya again.

 

[Concernedgal]

Well, I've been OK I guess. Trouble at work. This job has been extremely stressful. I wish that I could have the courage to stand up for myself. I wish I could just say (hey! Your a bitch! I hate you and soon everyone will see you the way I do!). She's a bully to me but, she plays a good game for everyone else but, when she and I are around each other and no one else is around. . Well. Everybody there likes her and I don't know why. I wish they would realize who she really is . This situation drives me up the wall. Sometimes I hear it from a distance her talking get about me behind my back but, if I tell... then I am a snitch. So ... how do I stand up for myself without seemingly g like a whinny little child? I really need resolution here. She tried to fool me not too long ago by asking g if we could start over and be freinds but, after I reluctantly agreed... it bit me on the ads and she stabbed me in my back again. She's constantly talking behind my back and everything g seems fie when I leave my work bUT miraculously when I return I was supposed to have said or done so ethics get that I didn't even do and that always believe her over me. It's like she's got this thing over all of them . What's a girl to do?

 

[Natasha0717]

WOW, that's awful. I'm not sure what to tell you, I'd say just avoid her/ignore her, but it seems you all have no choice but to work together and in close quarters, so you can't really avoid it. All I can say is that's why I seriously go out of my way to find jobs that have little to no interaction with others (I mean in person.) Other people just make me too nervous. And worrying about sleeping the night before any job is also what usually gets me, so I try to find jobs where I can work later hours. And short hours (just in case.) Hang in there, I really hope things start turning around for you with your job.