What causes Clicking or Popping in Throat when Swallowing?

I had my last, and final check up with my emt doctor a few weeks ago. There was a small hole in my ear drum that was treated with medications that didn't work. Finally a patch was put over the opening that is there permanently. I still get those sounds once in a while, but not nearly as bad or often. I guess it's another one of those "geezer" things that crop up.

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@mushroom- Hi. If I could provide you some reassurance, so you don’t cause yourself anxiety which can make things seem worse than they are.
You most likely massaged an area that was tense and needed the massage. You most likely just relaxed some muscles and drew attention to that area which now makes you hyper focused on the sound. If you didn’t have it before, the it is most likely nothing. The body is amazing and as it is amazing it does get loud sometimes, which is extremely normal. A simple massage would not have caused damage to that area. Perhaps just drew attention to it. Most doctor visits are due to people needing reassurance. So hopefully you end up with a doctor who understands mind/body connection, and doesn’t send you on a hunt as well as a ton of imaging. Be calm and the clicking probably fade away.

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Hello I am too facing same problem I didn't had it earlier I don't get any pain too it's just clicking whenever I swallow, is there any remedy or medications that I can follow to get relief from this

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Welcome @sabakhan, I posted a video earlier in the discussion on something you can try that might help. Here's the link - https://connect.mayoclinic.org/comment/323788/.
I think you will get your best answer and probably ease your mind if you have it checked out by an ENT doctor.

How long has the clicking when swallowing been going on?

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Hello everyone, I've been studying a lot of neck anatomy, including hyoid bone, thyroid cartilage, suprahyoid and infrahyoid muscles, among others. I also spoke to some doctors about it, asked questions and cleared my doubts. And I came to a - Possible - conclusion. (I want to make it clear, that I did this research on my own, I talked to doctors also on my own, and I also did exams, so this is not a scientific article, at least for now, maybe I will go deeper as a researcher and take this to an even more professional side, anyway, I hope this can help you.) If you search for thyrohyoid membrane or thyrohyoid ligament, you will see that between the hyoid bone and the thyroid cartilage, there is a group of fibroelastic ligaments, these ligaments allow mobility of the larynx as a whole, and thus, aid in speech, swallowing, and breathing. Based on reports from people who suffer from it like me, I realized that most of us ventured into laryngeal massages or suffered some trauma in the region, such as: high pressure vomiting, blows or even falls. After having researched for months about all these things, using scientific articles as a basis, I went to ask doctors with many years of experience, one of them answered me something like this: People who do laryngeal/hyoid massages passively tend to experience symptoms like those (Clicking, popping). He didn't explain why, but I have a guess; As the connection between the hyoid bone and the larynx is made of fibroelastic ligaments, these ligaments are more fragile than muscles, and may tear or even break; depending on the intensity of the massage or trauma, it may have led to laxity or rupture of a part of these ligaments, more precisely on the lateral part near the greater cornu of the hyoid bone, and the superior cornu of the thyroid cartilage, giving rise to friction, causing the click, because technically the hyoid became more "loose" so to speak. As a solution, I didn't find anything specific and truly effective, I don't know if there is any surgery to repair or strengthen these ligaments, but maybe physiotherapy, in the medium term, can help or even solve this problem, if there is a minimally invasive procedure for this, such as an infiltration or even the surgery itself, would be a good possibility. I hope I helped, and I want to remind you again that this is not a scientific article, nor something scientifically proven, it's just a hypothesis of someone who suffers from it, did a lot of research on it, and questioned experienced doctors about the problem. Anyway, look for an experienced specialist and ask about it, you may find a specific solution for your case. Hugs and best wishes to all!

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I had my thyroid removed years ago. I also have a very dry mouth due to medications. I have been wondering shy sometimes when I swallow, I can here a clunking sound in my throat. I can feel it as well. If I push the voicebox area from side to side, it will also clunk sometimes. Any ideas on this?

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I developed this throat clicking/popping two days ago and it has been unrelenting since then. The popping is not particularly painful, but it feels uncomfortable and grosses me out, it is producing a lot of anxiety every time I need to swallow as I never know if it will surprise me with a pop. It feels like cartilage rubbing or getting caught on something, or like a lymph node or tumor rubbing against the structures of my throat. Like a lot of you here, I worry it could be cancer or something scary like that. The surrounding tissues have become sore and tender now. Mine does not click when I look straight ahead, instead it pops and clicks when I look down or to the left. Sometimes it pops without swallowing if I turn my head quickly or cough or when I pronounce certain words. This has happened to me before in the past and has always freaked me out, but it never lasted for more than a few hours to a day. I used to worry about thyroid cancer when it happened. It also feels like I have a lot of phlegm in my throat but I don't really seem to have it, its just the sensation of fullness. I also have a minty menthol feeling that rises up from the back of my throat, I've read this could be acid reflux/laryngopharyngeal reflux related. Apparently a lump in throat feeling is also related, but the popping feels more like it is something catching on something or something in my throat's anatomy is out of alignment. Perhaps in my case it is acid reflux and it is causing inflammation and swelling and that is when the cartilage or hyoid bone catches on something? And when my swelling is down, it stops doing it? I'm hoping this goes away soon and I am not stuck with this long-term. I see an ENT next week.

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Did this ever improve for you? I’m going through the exact same thing right now.

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Yes, it did! Turns out it was acid reflux, I had an endoscopy at my ENT appointment and this was the finding. It stopped after a couple of weeks and hasn’t happened since.

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