A British female singer suffers from a rare disease and cannot burp normally: she feels like there is a frog in her throat

Lucy Hodson, a 27-year-old British singer, suffered from a rare disease that prevented her from burping properly. For several years, she suffered from persistent abdominal distension, "grunting" in her throat, and chest tightness, which even seriously interfered with her acting career."It felt like having a frog trapped in your throat," Lucy described. The embarrassment caused by the weird noise prevented her from participating in meditation classes that required silence. What was even more fatal was that uncontrollable "air vomiting" frequently interrupted her singing during the performance. At first she thought it was just her "little quirk," but when the throat abnormality began to eat away at her singing voice, she finally decided to seek medical attention.

However, after waiting for more than a year in the British National Health System (NHS), the diagnosis she received was only "acid reflux" - a conclusion that shocked her deeply. Unwilling to do so, Lucy turned to the Internet for self-verification.Finally, the answer was locked: a rare condition called reverse cricopharyngeal dysfunction (R-CPD), also known as "inability to hiccup syndrome." The cause is an inability of the upper esophageal sphincter to relax, preventing gas from being expelled from the body. The condition didn't receive a medical name until 2019.

She learned that by injecting high doses of Botox into the throat sphincter, she could force the muscle to relax and restore hiccup function. Despite concerns about the risks of surgery that could permanently damage her singing voice and the financial pressure she faced, Lucy ultimately chose to fight against the odds.

At a London hospital, she completed diagnosis and injection treatment on the same day. "When I yawned the next morning, I burped normally for the first time in my life!" she recalled excitedly.

Although she experienced brief swallowing delay and laryngospasm after the operation, and her voice was slightly weakened, she is hopeful: "I am working hard to recover and look forward to returning to the stage in a healthier state in a few weeks."