What causes Clicking or Popping in Throat when Swallowing?

@maxthomas11 If your hyoid bone is misaligned, it does cause clicking on swallowing. This bone sits crosswise above the voicebox in your throat and it moves when you swallow. That is how you can find it with your fingers, but don't push on it because it is very delicate. It is held there by muscles, and if there are muscle spasms or tightness in your neck, it can pull the bone out of alignment. That is something a physical therapist can treat. My therapist does myofascial release which will stretch out the tight fascia. If you have skinned a raw chicken, you have seen fascia. It's the cobwebby stuff that connects everything. In living animals (and people) this fascia kind of liquifies and reforms itself when you stretch it and hold a gentle stretch. You can read through the discussion on MFR to learn about this treatment. There is also a provider search for therapists who are trained in this method. I'm glad you asked the question and are thinking about this. You should discuss it with your folks since you would need their help in seeing a physical therapist. Here are the links.

Provider search http://www.mfrtherapists.com/

Did you ever have ear pains when this was all happening? I've had mine for about a year and I've been to the doctors and they felt it pop and I even got it x-rayed and they still haven't found what it is.

Yes I have the same thing for over 3 months

Mine happened over 3 months ago when I was eating fast and I tried swallowing a large portion of food and when I swallowed it didn’t all do down in one swallow I had to double swallow but could still feel the food hanging in my throat (during the double swallow) and I was able to still breath during this. Right after that I felt like something was still in my throat so I tried to gargle and cough and I even tried to force myself to throw up a little but then I didn’t want to make things worse. So I saw an ent the next day they did a scope said it was fine. Then two days after I had thick phlegm develop in my throat causing my to throat clear constantly and swallow. The next day was when the clicking started. It was more of a double click in my throat like two cartilages rubbing everytime I throat clear and swallow saliva . (Now it’s mostly one click) It doesn’t click when I drink fluids or eat food. I’ve seen 2 ents one said it was silent reflux and was put on omeprazole for almost a month. That didn’t help. So I stopped the meds and the gastro said to do endoscopy. That was normal. Pulmonologist said my lungs sound fine because I was so scared everytime I ate or drink it goes down wrong. It’s affected my eating the first month. I lost weight. Sometimes I noticed I can get away from the clicking if I turn my head a certain way up and to the right. But sometimes it got so bad that the clicking happens no matter how I position my head. I can’t get away from it. Very frustrating. I also feel tightness around my throat. To where it’s sensitive if I wear a shirt too high and it touches my neck it bothers me and makes the tightness sensation worse. or a necklace turns on my next I feel the tightness more. Same for if a doctor touches it I feel the tightness worse. But one ent said I didn’t have to worry about my throat closing on me. Even though my anxiety told me otherwise. Stress makes it worse. I stopped going to doctors because some just say it’s a weird thing that happened and just give it time to go away. But how much longer will it take to go away on its own? Sometimes I feel like maybe it’s something so simple as getting a chiropractic adjustment of my neck to make it go back in place. But then the other part of me says not to because if I can’t have anything touch my throat without tension I don’t want to chance twisting my neck and possible making things worse. Maybe I should try physical therapy to strengthen my neck and something will gently go back into place again. But overall the feeling is that something is “ dislocated” in my throat. It’s also affected my breathing feels like my throat is smaller and also the constant throat clearing everytime I inhale doesn’t heal the throat any quicker either. Can you imagine all this that I am going through was from eating too big of portion too fast. I wasn’t even chocking ( thank God) I feel so embarrassed and so stupid and that all of this could have been avoided. because I caused all of this. I feel if I just took my time and had a second to eat normally ( I have 3 very young kids so i was trying to feed everyone while I was trying to eat myself). I feel like this is so unnecessary and should have never happened in the first place. I am patiently waiting for this to go away on its own. I have a physical next week. Hopping he can guide me in another direction as to what it is and what I should do next. Sorry for the long rant. But nobody believes me and thinks it’s anxiety. But it specifically happened right during when I was eating. So I know something happened but it’s not being picked up on testing. Very frustrating. Thanks for listening. Praying for hope. and for everyone who has similar situation I am praying for us to find a solution or for it to just need some time to get back to normal.

Hi, I have the same condition as yours. Did you find any solution?

No I haven’t found a solution yet and it hasn’t gone away on its own yet. I’m thinking to see a chiropractor to see what their opinion is. And/Or maybe just see what a physical therapist has to say.

Hello @nc27 and welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect. I am so glad that you were able to quickly connect with @mushroom and @tyty21 so will let you all exchange experiences!

Do you currently see a chiropractor for other ailments/issues? It would be great to share what you learn if/when you decide to explore that as an option!

Hi would you care to share with me what is the treatment available I had the same problem and couldn't find the answer

Hi everyone! I had Clicking Larynx Syndrome just like you all. It first happened only for 3 swallows and went away. It came back full time a month later. I saw an ENT and was immediately pushed out of the door. He didn’t even feel the clicking with his hands. I knew this was more serious (seriously annoying) and I continued to search for an ENT that specializes in head and neck surgery. I think that is the key here. You need to find someone who has done surgeries and actually understands what is happening. The ENT I found who also worked in the cancer center and focused on surgeries relating to cancer worked with me for 5 months with physical therapy, swallow tests and steroids. No results. I threw in the towel and got a CT scan done. My thyroid cartilage was a little enlarged on one side but nothing alarming. I also had a shorter distance between my greater horn of my hyoid and superior Cornu on one side. After discussing, I opted for surgery. My ENT performed a fairly common procedure called a thyroglossal duct excision where he removed the center portion of my hyoid and then he stitched up my remaining hyoid bones to the underside of my tongue. He made sure to remove enough that when he was in surgery he could see no more apparent contact between the thyroid cartilage and hyoid. I had immediate relief directly out of surgery. I did however notice some clicking when I turn my head and what seems to be clicking in the back of my throat after some swelling went down. I spoke with my ENT and he said this may all subside since I am still healing. If not, I go back in a couple months for another CT scan.
Also, on the day of my surgery he told me another girl saw him with the same problem.
Hang in there everyone. As isolating as it feels, you aren’t alone. I’ve been silently following this thread for months while I suffered. I know how horrible this is and frustrating but there are answers and you will be better one day. My advice is to not give up on searching for someone to take you seriously. Find an ENT at an actual hospital that is a surgeon. Not a specialist at a clinic. Also, I have horrible OCD and anxiety/depression and I know that the mental component can really amplify it. IF AN ENT TELLS YOU THIS IS FROM ANXIETY OR STRESS MOVE ON. This is very real and you need someone to take you seriously. I’m hoping all of my problems dissipate but I can gladly say that horrible thud is GONE. Also, there are great articles online about surgical procedures to take care of this issue. Print those out and bring them to your ENT. I did. Have hope and don’t give up.

I have the same problem. I've had this for 8 months. Went to the doctors and ENT a few times and they tell me they cant find anything