I found ES Information: Common Symptoms And Possible Explanations For Them to be extremely helpful! And I took some notes for my future reference, and for others with similar symptons.
“Research states that if the ECA is compressed, pain is in the infraorbital (below the eye and to the side of the nose), temporal, and mastoid regions (below and behind the ear). If the ICA is compressed, then pain is in the ophthalmic area”
My early stage foreign-body sensation is close to the ICA/ECA compression symptoms here, which explains the sensation radiation - initially behind the eyes, then below the eye and behind the nose. Probably ICA and ophthalmic area if I had to guess.
“If the Glossopharyngeal Nerve (Cranial Nerve IX) is pulled across the Styloid Process, then it can cause sharp, stabbing pain to the Temporomandibular Joint region, the ear, the temple, throat, tongue and neck (Anniker Isberg).”
But now, my dominate sensation or pain area is close to TMJ - an area below my eyes, behind my nose, up a bit from the base of my tongue. And I do feel noticeable sensation changes when moving my jaw in certain specific ways - when opening from 30% to 70%, also when moving left and right when it’s 30% open.
(Also the SLN nerve block injection today didn’t help much, so it’s either a different nerve like CN IX, or I need a few more days for the effect to kick in. So I will update again by then.)
“One symptom of GPN can be ‘globus’- the sensation of something poking/ stuck in the throat, but this ‘foreign body’ sensation can also often be caused by GERD, which explains why often members are diagnosed and treated for this before ES is found”
Exactly why my doctor mentioned reflux. But I should probably be more clear that my sensation isn’t inside the throat, but to the right of it, or somewhere between the throat and the neck skin. It’s just hard to identify and describe and it could be a combination of areas I mentioned above..
“This results in a forward head posture, which seems to alter the styloids in relation to the IJV. This is can be due to looking at phone or computer screens, but could also be a subconscious way to create space between the styloids & IJVs.”
I can confirm my head posture is indeed forward and I did use phone and computer A LOT. I remember reading somewhere that ES is more common in recent years, probably due to increasing popularity of mobile phones and apps. I think head posture is very likely a contributing factor. And then my tonsillectomy at 4~5 year old. And then maybe just genetic - my dad has a very similar head posture.