The following information about Globus Pharyngeus was written by Mr. Hisham Khalil and has been copied from the ENT Plymouth website. For more information, visit ENT Plymouth’s website.

What is Globus Pharyngeus?

Globus Pharyngeus is the term applied to the sensation of a lump or discomfort in the throat. This is a fairly common condition and represents about 4% of new referrals to an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist.

What is the Cause of Globus Pharyngeus?

The exact cause of Globus Pharyngeus remains unknown. There are many theories as to why people develop this condition. Amongst the popular theories are acid reflux from the stomach, muscular tension of the throat and voice box (larynx), failure of the muscle at the top of the gullet (cricopharyngeus muscle) to relax and stress.

What Affects the Globus Symptoms?

The discomfort or irritation in the throat can be made worse by repeatedly clearing the throat or the constant action of swallowing. Stress and anxiety seem to make the problem worse. Discomfort may be temporarily relieved by eating or drinking.

THE APP IDEA

With the above in mind, the app concept was conceived to allow the patient to record and monitor their progress as well as to hopefully improve the discomfort in the throat.

The app is to be fairly simple in design, simple to use and offer the following features:

• User registration and login to enable users to login and continue on more than one device.
• 6-week schedule to help the user record their progress.
• A user will be able to record the following for each day: cough amount during a period of an hour; completed exercises for tight and open throat; a Likert scale to quickly add how they felt via a slider, a comments box and radio selections to ask if they remembered to drink at least 2 litres of water and avoided foods that worsen reflux.
• Simple calendar layout which shows at a glance, their progress for a given day. When a day is selected, it will also show how they felt on that day.
• Push notifications which get triggered daily during the 6-week schedule at a time of day set by the user.
• Offline mode: the app functions almost completely offline, with an internet connection required only to watch videos and the initial login phase. Other than that, the app will allow the user to record and view their data completely offline. Also the user should get notified if trying to access videos or trying to login whilst offline.
• Smart data synchronisation – the app will know what data has been synced and will continue to sync data not already synced when it detects a wifi connection.
• Embedded videos for further information for the user which will explain Globus Pharyngeus in more detail as well as tips for how to improve the sensation in the throat and to record this in the app.
• User rewards to aid motivation: at pre-defined times and usage, the app will display messages of encouragement that is designed to help the user progress with the schedule.
• An automatically generated success rate indicator which allows the user to see at a glance how well they are completing the tasks and the schedule to time.
• A dedicated help section which will highlight the main UI elements within the app in case any are not obvious.
• A link to a user survey after completing the schedule to help improve the app and to understand how they feel after using it.
• Storing of anonymous user analytics of the app through the use of Google Analytics to help understand how the app is being used.