# Lump in your throat - mechanics thereof

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lump-in-your-throat-mechanics-thereof/182939>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 19, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lump-in-your-throat-mechanics-thereof/182939 "2003-06-19T15:43:30Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![XJETGIRLX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9fc29f/32.png) [@XJETGIRLX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/XJETGIRLX)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 3:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lump-in-your-throat-mechanics-thereof/182939/1 "2003-06-19T15:43:30Z")

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What exactly is the physical cause of that painful lump in your throat when you’re sad or when you begin to tear up? What’s going on in the larynx or wherever when that happens?

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**Author:** ![xcheopis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bc8723/32.png) [@xcheopis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xcheopis)\
**Post date:** [June 19, 2003, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/lump-in-your-throat-mechanics-thereof/182939/2 "2003-06-19T16:01:47Z")

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It’s a constriction of the throat, not the larynx (a.k.a. “the voicebox.”)

The condition is called _globus hystericus_ and is described by my medical dictionary as, “a transitory sensation of a lump in the throat that cannot be swallowed or coughed up, often accompanying emotional conflict or acute anxiety. **The condition is thought to be caused by a functional disturbance of the ninth cranial nerve and spasm of the inferior constrictor muscle that encircles the lower part of the throat.** ”  
[SUB]Mosby’s Medical, Nursing, & Allied Health Dictionary, 4th ed.[/SUB]