I am so happy to have discovered this forum and have been following the posts for a few months now. I've read every post and wanted to share my story which is similar to many of yours, hoping to hear back from you with reassurance and any ideas of how to fix this clicking sound in my throat.

In June 2021 I had a sore throat on the back left side of my throat, it was odd and the first time I've ever experienced unilateral soreness, my submandibular lymph nodes were swollen for 2-3 days then they returned back to normal, most likely got hit with something viral. The sore throat went away after about a week and half. During that time I went to the ENT and they basically said I'm fine after scoping and checking me out. Over the next several months I had a discomfort on the left side of my neck near the cervical lymph node area when I swallowed so I ended up getting an ultrasound. The ultrasound showed everything was normal except for an 'elongated cervical lymph of 2.5 cm x 0.5 cm'. I followed up again 4 months later and the size had not changed significantly although they noted some calcification on my hyoid bone. The ENT believes that inflammation, along with GERD caused the hyoid to become misaligned. I haven't gotten a CT scan yet so I don't know if this is completely true.

Since August 2021, I noticed that when I swallowed saliva slowly, a sticking sensation was happening in the area where my throat was sore months prior. I then became hyper aware of this and was able to produce a clicking sound when I voluntarily swallowed. The sound is audible when I open my mouth and also palpable when fingers are placed near the hyoid bone. I feel a thud sound inside my head when this click happens. It kind of feels like a rubber band snapping in the back of my throat.

I went back to ENT and like many of you have said here, they said this is nothing to worry about and something I'd have to live with. They were not able to provide a diagnosis but just said it's a clicking hyoid/larynx. I also went to a speech pathologist who acknowledged the clicking and showed me laryngeal massages but these do not work.

Now after about 6 months I am doing my best to not think about it but the loop of anxiety is very real as this is a daily thought that comes multiple times a day. Sometimes the thought of cancer pops up. I don't want to get surgery but I am wondering what others have done to help with their mental health. I've turned this into OCD where I constantly am feeling my neck. I've done lots of research online but need to stop searching now and just accept that this is something I have to deal with.

Thank you all for reading my post and providing support. I'm glad to find this community to discuss this medical mystery. Would love to connect and provide whatever support I can as well!