I've mentioned a lot of this before, so I'll try to be brief. Back in mid-2016 when I started to get dedicated towards chewing gum, a very small amount would always end up stuck in my throat, almost always on my more recessed side. Sometimes it would clear out after a day and other times it would take weeks - one time, some was stuck for like 9-10 months. Now for the past year, this happens with food as well. It happens daily and makes doing the chin tuck slightly painful, though it's very rarely compounded. (meaning there's not an ever-growing chunk of food and gum that gets stuck, it mostly clears within a few days/weeks and then more gets stuck, repeating the process) It's always on the side of my throat; no coughing, clearing, swallowing, etc.. ever moves what's in there. I've been wondering if it could be caused by posterior tongue tie because sometimes I can feel the food or gum slip underneath the side of my tongue in an awkward way, I can rarely free it when this happens and when I begrudgingly swallow, it's instantly stuck in the side of my throat.
I asked my doctor about this and he said wasn't familiar with it, but it wasn't a problem, though all he did was shine a flashlight in my throat as if he would be able to see anything. I was at the dentist last week and told him of my lifelong eating problems (can't swallow food without water) asked if he would be able to tell if I had a posterior tongue tie, he ending up not even checking because he started talking about something else for too long. On a side note, he checked my inter molar width and said it was 52mm. Beforehand, I told him how Mike Mew measures it, but I'm pretty sure he included half of the teeth anyways and it's actually in the low 40s. I was mildly sedated and very compliant because of it, so I accepted whatever he said and didn't challenge him.
I'm probably going to see an ENT doctor to get a tongue tie diagnosis and ask about the food getting stuck, but I'm wondering if anyone else here has something similar? It's so frustrating to Google this and ask doctors and nobody seems to even know of such a thing. It also feels like a problem caused by recessed jaws being in the way, though I think mine are probably on par with many other posters here.
Edited to say I know it's a little ridiculous to wonder if this issue that only started 2 years ago could be caused by tongue tie if said tie could exist for over 20 years prior, but I don't know what else it could be. Not being able to swallow food without water despite trying to swallow correctly is the main thing that makes me think I'm tongue tied.
That sounds very strange. How can gum get stuck in your throat? Do you chew gum in multiple pieces?
Have you checked for tonsil stones?
But yes, a tongue tie could potentially cause swallowing issues. You can try and diagnose yourself using this video at the specified time:
https://youtu.be/HwZ0YhQXlN0?t=728
You could have a Zenker's diverticulum trapping food. Zenker's diverticula are outpouchings of the posterior pharyngeal wall just above the upper esophageal sphincter. I suppose it could also be other types of esophageal diverticula, but they are less common. You could ask your doctor about it. It's typically diagnosed by a series of x-rays of the cervical region while swallowing a radio-opaque dye called a "barrium swallow."
Thanks for the responses.
Allixa - I do usually chew two pieces at once. It's hard to word things because I don't want to give the impression that I randomly swallow a whole piece of gum or something. You know how chewing gum for a while sometimes leads to little strings of it getting stuck around your teeth? That's what I keep swallowing, although it feels like this is the amount I unconsciously swallow every time I chew gum, and it doesn't always get stuck in my teeth beforehand. Regardless of what happens, I'll notice a small amount in my throat 9/10 times, no matter how careful I am. At times, I've purposely withheld swallowing at all and can still feel a new obstruction.
I haven't checked for tonsil stones, though I probably do have them. My twin brother gets them often, but he doesn't have as much of a gag reflex as I do, so he can hack them up every so often. Having taken measurements from the video you linked, they're nearly the same size. A few sites claim posterior tongue tie is a lot harder to notice, yet others seem to not differentiate the two.
Apollo - That's interesting, I've never heard of such a thing. I used to get acid reflux every day due to an atrocious diet and was paranoid about my esophagus getting damaged, I also rinse with xylitol 6+ times a day (which causes new reflux) and lay down constantly. A lot of the symptoms that are listed on every site, such as regurgitation, cough, bad breath, hoarse voice, etc.., I don't have. The feeling of food being there is the main symptom I have, and it mainly affects seniors. (I'm only 24) Also, one source says the surgery is done by making an incision on the left side of the neck. Most of my trouble is on the right side, I circled the approximate location of the food compared to where the image says a diverticula would be. (even though the image shows the left side)
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