Menopause Matters Forum
Menopause Discussion => Other Health Discussion => Topic started by: Jud22 on October 06, 2025, 07:04:11 PM
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I'm 56, 3 years post menopause. Last year I had a nasal endoscopy (camera up nose and down throat). I found it incredibly painful and the after effects awful - couldn't breathe through my nose, felt like I couldn't swallow properly, ended up in A&E 48 hrs after procedure.
Ever since the scope I've had a weird sensation in my soft palate, like it's stuffed with cotton wool on one side and drooling, hard to describe but I'm hyperaware of it 24/7. I've since seen 2 ENTs and an oral maxillofacial surgeon, all said the scope wouldn't cause damage and that my soft palate looks normal.
I have 2 questions: first, can anyone relate to this sensation and/or had this procedure and it was painful?
Second, I had a nasal endoscopy in my 40s too and it was painless with no after effects, performed by same ENT. Could it be that postmeno the tissue is thinner and more sensitive hence the pain and discomfort during procedure?
I should add that while the scope was painful this time, the soft palate sensation is completely painless, just annoying and making it hard to focus on anything else. I do suffer from sensorimotor OCD which makes it even harder to get past.
Grateful for any feedback. Thanks!
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I cringe at the very thought of this procedure.
Firstly your soft palate looks OK. U R correct in that tissues do thin as we age, due to a loss of oestrogen in some instances. It mayB that the sensation is real with no obvious causation and u r over sensitive = continual focussing. Does it keep u awake ?
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No, it doesn't interfere with my sleep at all. It's a hyperawareness of that part of my mouth that I never noticed before the scope. No pain. Sometimes it feels like the soft palate is sagging, other times as if something is stuck on it , like globus sensation but in the soft palate not throat.
Yet when I examine it in the mirror there's nothing to see which is why I asked ENT about nerve damage.
I wonder if the scope activated a silent reflux issue, that's the only other thing I can think of other than it being psychological, like my brain is replicating the trauma from the scope.
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It may B a defence mechanism as the throat is very susceptible to bugs and foreign bodies etc..
At least it doesn't keep U awake so it isn't 'serious' but very annoying because the brain focusses on very little else!
Have U dried sucking sweets 2 C if that helps the sensation? There are some for 'dry throat' syndrome-type sensations, of course Meno-brain here can't remember the name ::)