What’s the ‘Lump’ in your throat before you start to cry?
In: Biology
[Original Response](https://www.reddit.com/r/explainlikeimfive/comments/16lpy7/eli5_what_is_the_lump_in_your_throat_feeling_you/c7x69i9/) by /u/skgggg
> The lump-like thing we feel when overcome by emotion has to do with how the nervous system deals with stress. The part of the nervous system that handles stress is called the autonomic nervous system. It controls bodily functions that we do not consciously control, such as digesting food and pumping blood through the heart. However, the autonomic nervous system is also important in dealing with emotional states.
> When an animal encounters a stressful situation, its autonomic nervous system kicks in to allow it to either fight or run away. It does this by increasing the flow of blood and oxygen to the necessary muscles. The same applies to humans. Even when we experience emotions such as grief or sorrow, the autonomic nervous system responds as it would to anger or fear by increasing the flow of oxygen through the body.
> To increase oxygen intake, the autonomic nervous system makes us breath faster, and expands the glottis, the opening in the throat that allows air to flow from the larynx to the lungs. The expansion of the glottis in and of itself does not create a lumpy feeling, until we try to swallow. Since swallowing involves closing the glottis, this works against the muscles that open the glottis in response to crying. We experience the resulting muscle tension as a lump in the throat.
My LI5 version
> The lump-like thing we feel when we are sad or mad happens because a part of the throat gets bigger. (The part of the throat is called the glottis if you want to find out more)
> When we are sad or mad or scared our body knows there is something wrong. (Our body thinks that being sad or mad or scared is worse than being calm and happy like normal.) When our body thinks something is wrong is makes changes so we can fix whatever wrong like run away from danger or fight something that is attacking us.
> It can make lots of changes like pump more blood though our heart or breathe in more air. To breathe in more air a part of the throat gets bigger so there is more space to let the air in. You don’t feel it get bigger until you swallow. Swallowing closes it which is harder because it is bigger. The extra work you do to close it feels like a lump.
Your throat, which starts as a single tube eventually splits into two tubes: one going to your lungs and the other going to your GI tract. When you swallow, the body needs to protect the lungs so that food, spit, or drinks don’t enter the lung tube. To do this, we have a flap called the “epiglottis,” which remains open most of the time and then flaps closed to seal off the lung tube when we swallow.
When you cry, or in any stressful situation, your “flight or fight” response kicks in. This response works to increase the amount of oxygen your body gets, so your body will expand all airways. When you swallow you are working agains this response because you are forcing the airway closed. As a result, you will feel how tense your muscles are, which is the “lump in my throat” feeling.
Edit: mistake in wording
Hi Everyone, Please read rule 3 (and the rest really) before participating.
This is a pretty strict sub, and we know that. Rule 3 covers 3 main things that are really relevant here:
No Joke Answers
No Anecdotes
No Off Topic comments
This only applies at top level, your top level comment needs to be a direct explanation to the question in the title, child comments (comments that are replies to comments) are fair game so long as you don’t break rule 1 (Be Nice).
I do hope you guys enjoy the sub and the post otherwise though.
If you have questions you can let us know here or in mod mail, or if you have suggestions for the sub we also have r/IdeasForELI5 as basically our suggestions box.
What you feel is a tightening of your vocal cords to signal supplication and submission. It raises the pitch of your voice and signals that you are not a threat while also inviting pity and help from others.
Actually, the pitch of your voice changes regularly depending on your social environment. The autonomic nervous system varies how tight your vocal cords are depending on whether you are speaking to a subordinate or dominant person. In our evolutionary past, using higher-pitched vocalizations when around the alpha male might keep him from seeing us as a threat and killing us.
Regarding Other Comments: The lump in your throat is NOT just sympathetic nervous system activation to open your airways as other comments say. If it was, you would experience the same lump when you were really angry, or during vigorous exercise, etc, which doesn’t happen. Yes, it can accompany the fight-or-flight response, but not always.
[removed]
Latest Answers