I can’t believe I finally found this thread! This started happening to my 15 yo son a few months ago. It was so frightening for him and so frustrating for us both. We have figured out that it is “triggered” by him yawning and stretching at the same time or yawing in an exaggerated way. (It can also happen randomly.)
It used to only pop outwards towards the left side of his throat and he was able to push it back in place or chug water to get it to go back. Twice now it has popped inwards and he gets very upset because he cannot find a way to pop it back in place right away. It is very painful for him to swallow and breathe but he says he doesn’t feel like his airway is restricted. He can usually fix it within a few minutes.
I took him to ENT after it occurred a few times and they were able to palpate a small “nodule” so they did a scope which was normal and then did a CT without contrast which showed the results that I will post in a pic. The ENT specialist said “he should grow out of it” and “nothing we can do”. It is beyond frustrating. It is interesting that Ehlers Danlos was brought up in other comments. He is incredibly flexible. Definitely going to look more into EDS.
I’m planning on calling ENT again next week since the popping is going in the other direction now too.
I can’t explain how hard it is to find any helpful information anywhere that so perfectly describes what you all have said here. It makes me feel better that he isn’t the only one dealing with this!

Edit to add some other symptoms and conditions he has.
- ADHD, Anxiety, and Sensory processing disorder (mainly sounds and food textures)
- Speech delay that was resolved when he had his tonsils and adenoids removed at 2.5 years old after chronic strep throat. (We fought it for 2 years. He hadn’t spoken a word until then. He would verbalize but very much delayed)
- Migraines
- Super flexible and double jointed
- Pain in knees and legs that aren’t growing pains.
- His knees grew so fast that he actually has stretch marks around his knee caps!
- “Melting” (this is what he calls it) when he stands up fast or sometimes a sudden movement. He never passes out however he sinks to the floor and lays there saying he “only sees black”. He doesn’t freak out, but it takes a minute and he gets right back up. He says that if he isn’t allowed to “melt” he is afraid he is going to faint.