Something in my neck is popping out of place

I am so grateful to have found others who are experiencing the same thing as me. I am in my early thirties and this has happened to me about 3-4 times. Just like others there is no rhyme or reason to when it happens. Episodes are sporadic and very frightening in the moment. Fortunately, I do not have any pain and it seems to go back into place after a few minutes. I try to remain calm and relaxed while it is happening. I have been researching exercises to stretch and strengthen the muscles in that area. Does anyone have any tips? I also noticed that the sensation of it coming back is brought on by poor posture and looking down at my phone. Perhaps even the way I sleep on my side and the pillow I am using exacerbates the problem. Again, I am so glad to have found a community of others who are going through this. Hopefully, we can get some answers!

The bit you’re all pushing back into place, does it feel like a bony knob in your throat beneath the jawline? I was poking and prodding my throat the other day and located a bony knob and I think I irritated it and now it’s sore. I’m attaching a photo of the location. Is that the edge of the hyoid ??

Adding to the “me too” thread! I’ve had the same thing happen for 20+ years (43yo now). I actually had a thyroid sonogram today
(2-5-24) and the sonographer said my thyroid looked perfect. I’ve periodically looked online for what could be causing this and until now, I’ve never found anything so thank you OP! I can easily pop mine back in and it may happen a few times a week or once in 6 months. I don’t have any pain when it’s popped out, but I can’t swallow and talking is a little more difficult. I hope someone in this thread will be able to get some answers! I’m following up with my dr in a few days and seeing what our next step is.

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.

My son describes it as a bump on the left side of his thyroid area.

I am so beyond thankful that I am not alone!! I have been searching for someone to understand for years. I’m a 39 year old female. When it all about this people look at me like I have two heads. This is EXACTLY what happens to me too. It is very painful and feels like someone slips over my esophagus or trachea. I can usually pop it back into place but it freaks me out and leaves me sore. The only trigger I was aware of is when I’m lying down and turn my neck a certain way. The yawning didn’t occur to me, but yes it happens some then too! I also have a lump near it that I assumed was a swollen lymph node, but now I’m thinking it’s a cyst too. I am shocked by how many similarities with other symptoms too.
My daughter has hypotonia, which is lower muscle tone. And we both have hyper-mobility.

Other possible correlating symptoms and characteristics:

-Hypermobility (Suspected EDS)
-Low muscle tone
-Tonsillectomy
-Tinnitus
-Frequent migraines
-Joint and back pain
-Easily bruise and sprains
-Intense pain in knees, and have easily dislocated, torn ACL and meniscus, and multiple surgeries to repair torn cartilage
-Fatigue
-ADHD and anxiety
-Poor sleep
-Sensory processing disorder

I'm 25 years old and i've been experiencing this for the past 3 years.

This has mainly happens to me in bed when i swallow while looking down. To descibe how it feels, at first it feels normal and the moment i swallow for the second time it's as if my throat is being obstructed. When i swallow while looking down it's very easy with minimal pain but when looking up it hurts. The pain is not awful but it's very uncomfortable.

I used to be able to easily push it back with a loud painful crack but lately it's just silent and i kind of had to fiddle with it to get it back in place.

I have no other symptoms that would lead me to believe that it's from an underlying condition.

Here to add to the thread of people this happens to!

This first started happening to me in my late teens after a serious car accident. I was cleared as “miraculously fine” after the accident but had a TBI and whiplash that both left me with serious long term health issues. For me this issue is really sporadic, once I went an entire year without it happening. But like others, when it happens once it tends to happen again in the following days or weeks. I’ve had a lot of medical issues and chronic pain but this pain is like nothing else, it’s excruciating and I’ve never been able to pop mine back into place like others. Sometimes it lasts a couple minutes, my longest episode lasted half an hour. For me I can feel it coming on - most of the time it’s triggered by turning my head too fast, yawning, or stretching - then I can tell something is shifting out of place, it almost feels like straining and then it completely pops out and you can see it in my neck. Over the years I’ve found that laying completely flat on my back and having someone help to keep me calm makes them pass quicker. I tend to panic really bad when it happens because of the pain, inability to talk or swallow, and the difficulty breathing.

I went to the doctor for this when it first started happening a year after my accident but like others, all my imaging came back normal because it wasn’t happening during and I refused to induce it because it’s so terrifying.

My other conditions/weird symptoms are:

-TBI
-fainting/black outs when I stand up from seated position or from exertion
-non epileptic seizures
-migraines
-jaw pain
-nasal collapse
-chronic fatigue
-endometriosis
-GERD//other GI issues

I've been suffering with this thing popping out on the left side of my throat for at least 10 years, I think it's the hyoid bone or thyroid bone popping out, when I yawn excessively and turn my neck, or swallowing while lying down, but lately it's happening randomly. It's quite alarming, I can't swallow or talk, it is very painful trying to swallow but I panic and it makes you want to swallow more. I push it back in, sometimes it works sometimes it takes longer, I have to calm myself and try to relax my throat. It aches after for a day or two. It happen yesterday and it feels like it's about to happen again any minute, one wrong turn or yawn and pop!
I have many other health issues which after reading others stories, maybe relevant.
I have hypermobility
Fibromyalgia
Lupus
Celiac disease
Chronic anxiety
Depression
Perimenopause
Low cortisol
Query hypothyroidism

I have noticed that it happens more when my anxiety is higher, due to tight muscles in the throat. Also when I yawn, the muscles under the jaw each side go into spasm, which is very painful and have to massage them out. My throat is quite slow too when I swallow, so anxiety is definitely messing with the normal functioning of the throat muscles and everything in that area. My doctor looks at me stupid when I try to explain what is happening, he said he's never heard of it, but my chiropractor has. It's such a horrible disorder, very worrying and painful, not knowing if it will pop back in is highly stressful and not great with the tight anxiety feelings in the throat already. It's a viscous cycle.

I literally thought I was the only person in the world that this happens to, I thought I might be a freak and that nobody would ever believe what is happening. I'm so glad I'm not alone in this, not that I want anyone else to suffer, but knowing I'm not alone helps somewhat. I'm sure there's nothing to cure it though. I also have a larger bone that sticks out more on the left side, the part that moves up when you swallow, is this normal? Is it meant to be symmetrical each side of the throat?