I have a history of GERD, ate spicy food, and threw up. The food particles were fairly solid, it felt like my epiglottis inverted, and I now have the sensation of irritation directly behind my vocal chords. I do not have much pain, but since I m terrified of an infection and potential airway obstruction, I gargled with warm salt water, mouthwash, and sucked Strepsils. How would one know if one had caused damage as I ve never felt it flap up loose like that before and I m quite frightened? Would something like Cataflam help any swelling in the interim as it s night time and the only place open is the ER, but I don t want to panic if it can wait until the morning to see my GP.