Imagine living with throat pain for 35 years... No doctors can get to the bottom of it. You're misdiagnosed with everything from mumps to allergies... even anxiety and ADHD. Years of medical procedures, therapy, and surgery don’t help. Eventually, you're accused of attention seeking and told to "get over it."
That's the exact nightmare one man claims to have lived through since childhood. He says he gave up on getting an accurate diagnosis and decided to just suffer in silence. Then, one day, out of the blue, the medical mystery was magically solved. All thanks to a random dish of taco rice that his daughter made one evening.
He lived with severe throat pain for 35 years and not one doctor could figure out why
Image credits: freepik (not the actual image)
Then, a bowl of taco rice stepped in and magically solved the decades-long medical mystery
Image credits: Wavebreak Media (not the actual image)
Image credits: peoplecreations (not the actual image)
Image credits: EvgenySmykov (nott he actual image)
Image credits: killfr3nzy
He later gave more info and even provided a photograph of the culprit
Image credits: killfr3nzy
"I do not understand": some people were confused and the man was happy to clarify
The "digital doctors" quickly got to work and tried to guess what it might be
The mysterious object was sent off for testing after his doctor couldn't come to a solid conclusion
Image credits: syda_productions (not the actual image)
Finally, the medical mystery was solved, leaving many wondering whether the tooth fairy sometimes takes leave
Image credits: Direct-Caterpillar77
Have you or your child swallowed a tooth? Here's when to worry...
If this guy's story has you panicking about swallowing teeth, fear not. Apparently, it's quite common and generally, harmless. Most times, a tooth will digest without pain or complications.
“Nearly all swallowed objects will pass through the digestive system without causing any harm, including those with sharp edges,” notes the U.K.'s National Health Service (NHS). According to the the European Society of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy, if an object can pass from the narrowest part of the digestive tract (where the esophagus joins the stomach), it will most likely pass with no problem.
Most swallowed foreign objects (like teeth) will go through your GI tract. "But roughly 8% find their way into the tracheobronchial tree, or the airways that extend into your lungs," the Hull University Teaching Hospitals reports. If this happens, it's considered a medical emergency.
Other times, you should seek medical attention after swallowing a tooth include if you have trouble swallowing, experience neck, chest pain or abdominal pain, are vomiting a lot, if there is blood present in vomit or stool, or if you have a fever or are drooling.
Image credits: prostooleh (not the actual image)
It's clear taco rice guy didn't swallow the tooth... so how did it stay in his throat for so long? One possibility is something known as Zenker’s diverticulum. It's basically a pouch that develops in your throat, and it may have literally been holding the answer to his pain for all those years.
"The pouch forms when your cricopharyngeus muscle, which is the upper sphincter muscle of the esophagus, doesn’t work like it should. Constant pressure from this muscle creates back pressure on the wall of your throat," explains the Cleveland Clinic site. "Over time, that pressure may push tissue through the throat wall to make a pouch or outpouching. The pouch may cause issues like difficulty swallowing, regurgitating food or bad breath."
And yes, food, pills and even teeth that have fallen out can get stuck in the pouch instead of going through the esophagus. That's according to Mayo Clinic. This can lead to problems with eating and other complications.
Mayo's experts add that if the pouch gets big enough, whatever's in it may spill into the throat. Cue taco rice with a side of milk tooth...
People were invested in the medical drama but some developed a new fear after learning the outcome
