I had sudden onset of pain/discomfort in my throat on the left side in spring 2013 while drinking a homebrew and smoking a cigar on my front porch. The immediate sensation was that of swallowing a corn chip the wrong way and having it go down slowly. It's possible I swallowed a tiny sliver of glass from the homebrew. (The bottle neck broke off and I just brushed the one piece of glass I could see off the bottom part of the break poured the contents into a pint glass.)

The acute pain subsided quickly but I was left with a sensation of something in my throat by the base of the left side of my tongue or under my skin near the bend in my jaw. I thought nothing of it but listed "difficulty swallowing" on a checklist when I saw my new GP in June 2013. He was very concerned and sent me to an ENT.

The ENT said my history didn't fit oral cancer but did a thorough workup anyway, including a scope of my throat and found nothing. He palpitated heavily in my oral cavity and the outside of my throat. Nothing. After this visit, the sensation seemed intensified and I read up on cancer and started getting spooked. I started gargling with strong salt water and diluted hydrogen peroxide in case it was just an infection. I noticed blood on a paper towel-covered finger when probing back there to see if I felt anything. I returned to the ENT about a month and a half after my first visit with more pronounced sensations. Again he probed and palpitated and felt nothing. He grabbed my larynx and squeezed, asking if it hurt. After getting to the point of nearly choking me I said "yes?" but it really didn't hurt at all. He decided to send me for an MRI (after considering a CT but said the MRI would find things the CT could miss) but felt it wasn't really necessary. He said if I had anything to be concerned about it would hurt like hell when he was poking around. The MRI was performed in September, 2013 with and without contrast. He called after receiving the results saying there was nothing (no "mass") but that I had a slightly enlarged thyroid and ordered a blood test which came out fine. He then released me to my GP to figure out what's going on.

I haven't been back to my GP since the thyroid test because he's writing a diet book and is more concerned about instructing me about our cavemen ancestors and how you should only consume vegetables that are stir-fried, not baked or steamed or boiled. I'm also unemployed and uninsured so I don't have a lot of resources to chase this down. I did return to the ENT in February, 2014 over concern about a white spot that appeared on my right tonsil that hadn't gone away in over a month. He said it was normal but did another thorough exam which didn't show anything else to be concerned about.

My ENT is a fantastic doctor and a surgeon to boot. I trust him but this discomfort still remains and I do worry. I've tried controlling the things I can (exercise, diet, weight, supplements) but it still remains. If my ENT says there's nothing to worry about, should I trust him or do I need to pursue this further? The behavior of the symptoms closely map to hyoid syndrome or glossopharyngeal neuralgia in how the sensations seem to track along a line between my tonsil, base of tongue and inward towards adam's apple. I don't mean to self-diagnose but I don't have financial resources at the moment.

Additional info:
I also have had post-nasal drip (a red irritated line down the left side of my throat) for nearly a year now. I stopped smoking cigars but even when I did it was less than one a month on average.
I use CPAP consistently and for a year or so I also used 12hr Afrin at night. I stopped doing this in June 2013 when my GP said it was very bad for me. Could this have caused some damage which explains the post nasal drip?

Thanks,

Wango64