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INTRODUCTION

This page will tell you about a condition called globus pharyngeus or simply just globus.

WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF GLOBUS?

Most patients with globus have the feeling of a lump in the throat. This lump feeling us usually situated low down in the front of the neck. It can often be quite noticeable, but at other times is hardly there at all. It does not interfere with normal eating and drinking, and in fact is often less noticeable when eating and drinking.

Most people say that they feel that if they could just swallow enough, they could shift it, but it never goes. A few people with globus feel as if they have a tight band around their neck, and so don’t like wearing tight collars.

WHAT CAUSES GLOBUS?

The exact cause of globus is unknown. It is thought that it may be due to a tightness of the muscle at the top of the gullet, called the cricopharyngeus muscle (see diagram).

Normally, when you swallow, the muscle relaxes to let food and drink pass, then closes up again. It is thought that in globus patients the muscle does relax too, but slowly, so that it feels as if there is a lump there.

WHO GETS GLOBUS?

For some reason globus is much more common in women; 10 women will have it for every 1 man who has it. It is also much more common in people in their forties and fifties.

ARE ANY SPECIAL TESTS NECESSARY?

There are no special blood tests that will help diagnose globus. Examination of the gullet with x-rays of the swallowing are invariably normal, so we don’t routinely request them.

WHAT TREATMENT IS AVAILABLE FOR GLOBUS?

There is no drug treatment or surgery that will get rid of the symptoms of globus. However, most patients with the condition find that the symptoms usually settle down fairly quickly by themselves.

Most patients with globus have a worry at the back of their minds that their symptoms are due to throat cancer, and may even know someone who has had throat cancer, and this understandably makes them stressed. The symptoms of globus are definitely not due to cancer, and patients often find that once they know their throat is healthy, they get less stressed and the symptoms often go very quickly.

WHAT IS THE OUTLOOK FOR THE FUTURE?

Most of the symptoms of globus disappear quickly, never to return. The outlook is, therefore, excellent.