Soild food stops just below the vocal cord area in the throat & just sits there!?

My mom when she eats solid food the food stops just below the vocal cord area in the throat & just sits there but when she swallows soft foods like yogurt or a drink goes down fine. Mom feels sick to her stomach during those times too. The doctor said she didnt think there was anything wrong! do you believe that! the doctor must be out of her mind. Mom is going in to a new doctor and they will put a camera into her throat lets hop shes safe but it beats the first opinion! Mom had acid reflux years back and had been using those purple pills that is supose to stop it mybe it made things worse? Im thinking theres an obstruction in her throat? Does anyone know what this might be?

Your mom may have scarring in the esophagus that is preventing solid food from passing through smoothly, or she may have nodules on the vocal chords themselves. The procedure she is considering is actually quite safe, and won't endanger her at all. It will mean they can have a look at the area and actually get a picture of what's happening when she swallows, though. If her throat were absolutely obstructed, nothing would get down at all, not even yogurt- so that's not a scenario. I have also seen in my career, the retrieval of a large piece of meat that one man managed to swallow- but was too large to enter the stomach. It just sat there for a couple days, until he came in complaining that he couldn't even drink water. It had us all stumped, since nothing was showing up on the xray. Finally the ENT doctor used an endoscope and had a look. Retrieved a nasty bit of steak from his dinner 5 days before. The gentleman went home feeling much better, though slightly embarassed- with directions to chew better next time and take smaller bites. If your mom has scarring, that may be what she hears as well. There isn't a lot they can do with esophogeal scarring, except to recommend softer foods and smaller bites.

this is a nervous disorder,food isnt really getting stuck otherwise she wold have choked by now

If the food just sits there...how can there not be anything wrong? Good move on going to a new doctor.

Putting a camera down her throat--I think that's called an endoscopy. They use that to look at what's inside. If the food just sits there, your mom might have an out pouching from her esophagus. I'm not sure what those purple pills are, but I do know people with acid reflux take medicine such as antacids, histamine receptor blockers (something like Zantac), or Prevacid. Those should not make it worse, because they're supposed to help you reduce the acid.

I'm just hypothesizing. Be sure to ask the new doctor a lot of questions because that's what's they're there for. Hope things go well, you sound worried.

I disagree with the "nurse" dumpling, you only choke if food enters your trachea, and blocks it off, the esophagus is a completely different tube. Maybe your mom is just feeling like the food isn't going all the way down. I sometimes have this problem if I have to take pills, it feels like the pill is just sitting there in my throat when I know it isn't. I definately think she should go get a second opinion just to make sure everything is ok. Prilosec shouldn't have made it worse. Is she also experiencing pain? That would be a good indication that something is wrong. I agree with the chick above me, she may have pouching of the esophagus, I would definately go to webmd.com and see if you can get any information from there!