Small Food particles stuck in back of Throat

[DennisO]

I have had a problem for years.. I get mall particles of food that gets stuck in the back of my throat somewhere around the nasal passage area.  These are small particle of hard food like a part of a peanut shards after being chewed up.. or really small pills like 10mg lipitor (I don't know how many of the liptors have literally dissolved back there instead of my stomach)  Almost every night I have something stuck there it causes my sinus to swell in the during sleep and can sometimes get painful if it does not get dislodge.

Sometimes I can dislodge it by rattle my sinus on that side. (“snuffing in” which  drive my wife crazy)

I have seen a ENT and they find nothing. They did a Barium Swallow and gave be a "horse" pill.  It showed nothing…. But the problem is the small stuff.

This seems to be out of the ordinary and the Doctors don't have a clue. I even asked a pharmacist and he said he had never heard of people having problems with little pills only big pills..

Help.. if you have a similar problem and found someone that could help you I would appreciate the details..

[Christygruetz]

I've had it since i was a kid.  The doc told my mom to have me gargle with salt water.  I asked the doc that I have now.  He told me that is was no big deal and that the pores in my tonsils would shrink with age.  I always worry that they give me bad breath.  They call it porous tonsils.  Food just gets trapped and decays.

[fishhead01]

has anyone ever got their tonsils removed and found that it worked?????

[Hurrah]

This might be helpful:

http://my.clevelandclinic.org/disorders/swallowing_disorders/dd_overview.aspx

Head position and posture... "generally chin to chest is best" and I tried this just now while eating popcorn.  No feeling of popcorn getting stuck behind some odd cranny in my throat, tonsil or wherever.

[waterjet]

Hi,
Did you managed to reach the food particles that are not within the visible range? I have hard time trying to dislodge the food particles that are stuck not within the visible range.

"One technique in particular I do that seems to work effectively is taking a Q tip with the cotton still on and pushing back each crevasse in the back of my throat to push out or dislodge the food particles one by one. "

[Stargirl12]

I'm glad I'm not the only one. Today I had some pop corn and felt a kernel trying to go the wrong way I thought I got it out but now it feels like it just stock somwhere. I'm so scared I'm going to choke when I go to bed it's been 7 hours dealing with this. To realize some of you have been dealing with something like that for years and months. Your so brave. I have major issues with taking pills, being scared of choking so I'll try some of the things all of you mentioned. It makes me feel better I'm not the only dealing with this weird issue too. Thanks,

[topadam1]

It seems that we all have very common problems with swallowing food.  I think are best bet is to eat small bites of food and chew excessively.  Try to not eat food that is mostly processed because these are the foods that will not deteriorate over time since most of it consists of preservatives.  One technique in particular I do that seems to work effectively is taking a Q tip with the cotton still on and pushing back each crevasse in the back of my throat to push out or dislodge the food particles one by one.  Another good method Ive learned is to drink tea with honey in it.  It soothes the throat and relaxes the throat muscles so you can reach further in your tonsils or other areas in the back of your throat.  Besides that I think warm salt water is also a huge help.  Anyhow I hope this helps.

Take care and gl to all of us!