What causes Clicking or Popping in Throat when Swallowing?

After many months of suffering, I was getting a massage from my gf, I pulled my head backwards, swallowed, heard a loud click and rubbing noise, and all of a sudden the clicking and trouble swallowing is gone.

If anyone wants to connect, send me a PM, we can exchange emails and give support to each other!

I have some of the same issues. Got a few XRays and the only thing they found was a abscess under my left wisdom tooth. I have to go to an oral surgery but until then when I swallow the clicking is still happening. My left ear feels stuffed, I have post nasal drip and I also have GERD!

I pray I’m this lucky. This popping started for me about 2 weeks ago and is giving me crazy anxiety. We had a phlegmy cold go through our house and for whatever reason I noticed I have a pop. It’s at the top of my swallow and can feel it just left of my Adam’s apple.

I went to the doctor yesterday and he said he doesn’t think it’s anything to get worried over but set me up with an ENT. I can’t get the anxiety out of my head I have cancer. It sucks.

My case is just like everyone else only does it on a dry swallow looking straight ahead or to the right. Looking up down or to the left I don’t feel a thing.

Plus I keep having the urge to swallow and my muscles in my neck are starting to be sore.

There are a lot of posts on this thread. Does anyone have any true resolve? I’m using this thread to help curb my anxiety.

Hi @emalloy, so far a definitive solution to clicking or popping hasn’t been discovered. However, most have discovered that the issue doesn’t point to a serious underlying medical condition.

I’m glad your doctor is investigating further and referring you to an ENT specialist. I know this can be scary and one tends to leap to the worse case scenario. But I wouldn’t leap to cancer. More analysis and investigation is necessary.

Is this a new issue for you since the recent cold you had in your family? What causes you to have the urge to swallow? Do you find that the urge diminishes when you’re concentrating on something that require focused attention or you’re distracted by doing something you enjoy?

Yeah I have never had this issue before. Definitely started around the time of everyone ha being cold and congestion. I think my urge to swallow started with my throat being very dry and contested and now I continue to swallow to see if my pop goes away. If my mind is focused on something other than this issue I don’t feel the urge to swallow frequently. I think a lot of it is anxiety.

Malloy, anxiety is definitely something you’ll want to keep in mind when looking for answers. It may be the root cause or simply a contributing factor. It’s good that you are addressing both your physical and mental health.

Is anxiety new for you? What helps you to decrease your anxiety?

I don’t have general anxiety. But when I have an “issue” with my body I don’t stop thinking about it and read all over the internet. I make myself more and more worried about what it could be when I don’t have an answer. I was the athletic guy that played college baseball, and when body issue last longer now and don’t fix themselves, I get more and more worried. I guess that comes with age but I’m only 32 ha ha.

I will try to keep this short but informative. We had a cold run through our house a couple weeks ago. Typical congestion, light coughing etc. I remember my throat being very dry and plenty of post nasal drip from the sickness but didn’t really feel that bad, none of us did. With my throat being really dry I remember swallowing constantly. During that swallowing a popping in my throat appeared. At least that’s when I remember myself noticing the popping.

The popping is at the top of my swallow. At my Adam’s apple/below my chin. It feels like a cartilage or tendon pop. It only occurs while looking straight ahead. Left, right, up or down results in no pop. I also feel no pop while eating or drinking. I have no pain and no trouble breathing or swallowing. I don’t recall any “trauma” to my throat but who knows when you wrestle a 4 and two year old all day.

I did got to my general practitioner a he said it does seem odd but doesn’t feel it’s something to worry over. He recommended me to an ENT to talk to an expert.

This is going on for two weeks now and my anxiety is through the roof thinking I have throat cancer and I can’t seem to convince myself otherwise. I guess I’m just a fatalist. Just turning to the mayo community for some help. Please and thank you.

My issue started when I was eating my dinner. I was eating fast and wasn’t chewing the food properly and the food didn’t go down all at the same time. And after that second swallow I felt something was still in my throat. So I tried coughing and throwing up and gargling. Nothing helped. 2 days later I had a lot of phlegm in my throat that lead to constant throat clearing. And swallowing. The day after is when I noticed the clicking. So I thought it was from excessive throat clearing and swallowing. And that it will take some time to go away. This happened last April. I finally decided to go to the chiropractor to get adjusted. Figuring something was out of place and maybe this was what I need to put it back in place. But that didn’t work. I had and endoscopy and they didn’t see anything. I forgot what it was like before high anxiety of my throat it’s been this way with clicking for so long. It is so frustrating. No doctor that I have been to can see anything that is causing the issue. Some days it gets better and some days it’s worse. I’m just waiting and praying for the day I don’t stress about my throat with eating and the clicking when swallowing. I’m so glad I found this forum. Because you feel like the only person who this happens to. I’m hoping we all find a solution this is problem once and for all. I also feel a somewhat tight band on the front of my neck. And it’s sensitive to touch. Praying someone can share their solution.