Something in my neck is popping out of place

I have had this happen to me several times. I can only explain it as a gland popping out of place and then staying stuck. I have discovered that if I hold my nose and close my mouth and blow it pops back immediately with no pain!! I hope it works for you as well.

It is soo nice to find other people with the same thing as me! I have been dealing with this since I have been a kid and I am almost 37 years old. When I first started getting it, it freaked me out. Somehow I learned to pop it back into place. It hasn't really bothered me until last night. I kept waking up the to throat thing and had to keep popping it back into place. I woke up at least three times. I have never woke up to it before. Has anyone figured anything out?
I have anxiety/depression
TMJ issues (I grind my teeth at night and clench during the day)
I have an open bite, so much so that I can't really close my mouth.
Sensory issues
ADHD
Frequent headaches
Constant fatigue
I used to get soo dizzy I would have vertigo
I believe I am hypermobile ( I can place my hands flat on the floor while my legs are straight)
GERD
Digestion issues
Troubles falling asleep so I use melatonin every night.
Hopefully we can get to the bottom of this!

So happy to finally find something that somewhat relates to my experience!

I’m in my late 20s and have had this happen 4 times in the last 4 years. Comes on very suddenly, sometimes for no apparent reason and other times when I’ve been at an awkward angle and swallowed/been crying. First two times it only lasted 10-15 mins but last two times it lasted 1 hour! The pain I feel on one side of the front neck is excruciating, almost like a prolonged spasm, made even worse when I try to swallow. When I do swallow while it’s happening it feels like my neck is being squeezed and pain shoots up to my jaw. It’s so bad I also can’t talk and can barely move my head/neck. I drool because I’m scared to swallow due to the pain. It’s so painful I just have to wait for it to ease on its own which it does eventually.

Once the pain subsides, the side of my neck feels uncomfortable for days and sometimes weeks. Only way I can describe it is it feels misaligned and I feel I have to straighten/pop something in the front side of my neck into place using my fingers numerous times a day. It’s especially worse at the end of the day and can be difficult to get a comfortable sleep. I fear if I swallow or move in the wrong angle it will trigger the spasm pain again.

I’m actually training to be a speech therapist so have studied the neck/throat, swallowing disorders etc., but nothing about this is familiar to me. I’m yet to visit a doctor as I have no idea how to explain what happens and from the other comments on this thread I don’t have much hope for the outcomes currently.

I’m also not sure everyone in this thread is experiencing the same thing due to some of the differing symptoms (eg. some people get bad pain like me and others don’t).

Also as a side note, I’ve had chronic migraines for 10 years, but doubt they are related.

@haileyhunt234 sorry I’m so late to see this but it just happened really bad and it was very difficult to pop back- BUT I’ve been doing it for myself my entire life as long back as I can remember. How I pop it back in is relax my head and neck, tilt head back straight to your back as far as you can, then with a flat open hand, fingers together, put gentle pressure on the exact area and push in on your neck. Feel around for the bulging bump (node??) and press gently until it literally pops back in. It doesn’t hurt to pop it back- you will get immediate relief of the pain. You’ll feel right again. Unfortunately, today my neck muscles were so tight that I couldn’t lay my head back to get the positioning right and had a bit of a panic attack trying to get it back in place. However, with some emotional support from the hubs I relaxed my body best I could (laid flat in bed with my head over the other side of the pillow) and just began flexing my mouth and jaw muscles until the pain relieved. Then I was able to do the pop back with my hand and just a tiny pop noise happened. Typically when I do this it’ll make quite the noise to me and I can feel the pop much more. Idk wth happened this time but it was not like that, hence why I ended up in this thread!! I just had to try to help everyone out to pop it back in themselves since I’ve been doing it since I was a small child, over 30 yrs now 🫢🫣) I sincerely hope this reaches you and helps as many ppl as possible!

@sophiahenn thank you again! I only come on this when the neck thing happens to. It gives some comfort and I just read everything over and over again. It’s so weird. This is the only place I’ve EVER heard of anyone experiencing the same thing. I’ve been to the doctor and nothing! I’ve even gone into the emergency room when it first started happening but by the time I got back to do x rays, cause they weren’t understanding what I was saying and thought I had a chicken bone in my throat, it had already popped back in.

@haileyhunt234 it sounds like you and others on this forum could have elongated styloid process's or calcified stylohyoid ligaments or both (Eagle Syndrome). It causes all kinds of symptoms depending on what structures it is affecting and is many times positional. Most of the time it is progressive, mine was. There is classic and vascular or a mix of both. You all may want to take a look at the living with eagle forum.

My understanding is the best imaging to get to begin with is CPT Codes 70496 and 70498, CTA head and neck w/contrast that is what I was told to have done by a specialist and did.

It should be noted to specifically to look for Eagle Syndrome and the styloid process's trajectory, length and thickness all matter. And don't be surprised if the radiologist doesn't do that even though it is requested and says nothing is wrong. I know from experience. Just had bilateral styloidectomies and starting to feel so much better.