1. < Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)

What causes Clicking or Popping in Throat when Swallowing?

Posted by mushroom @mushroom, Oct 2, 2020

I was doing some neck massages a few days ago and then afterwards whenever I swallow, I feel a clicking/popping sensation and sound when my larynx moves up upon swallow. There is no pain at the moment but the popping sensation in my throat gives me anxiety whenever I swallow. Is this the result of the cartilage rubbing on each other? Is it from the hyoid bone rubbing the thyroid cartilage? Are there exercises that can fix this?

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photoshopqueen | @photoshopqueen | Feb 6 1:13am
In reply to @rockysolomon995 "I have been following this thread for a little over a year and have documented my..." + (show)
@rockysolomon995

I have been following this thread for a little over a year and have documented my journey so far. Like most of you I have been to countless doctors and finally ended up at Stanford Medical where I met the extraordinary
Dr. Damrose. He found out what was causing my click in my throat. After a CT scan he noticed my right side thyroid cartilage looked abnormal but there was no way of knowing unless they went in there. On July 7th I finally had the surgery to correct the clicking in my throat. After surgery he came in and told me that the thyroid cartilage was almost bent 90 degrees which was causing all the issues. He doesn't know how this might have happened. I could've been born with it, it could have been from past neck trauma I had as a teenager. The surgery lasted about 45 mins to an hour. After surgery I was discharged and was on my way home. Recovery was pretty simple just a little bit of a sore neck and sore throat. All the literature I have read, is that the only way to correct this problem is by surgery. My doctor was amazing he never pressured me to get the surgery, he said its up to me and whenever I was ready he would be glad to do it. The scar is a little bigger than I thought but they did such a great job you can't really see the scar anymore they hid it in one of my neck folds. Like most of you I had no pain associated with the click, just the constant annoyance. I was worried there would be long term complications form this surgery, but he said there is nothing to worry about in the coming future. He assured me the surgery is a very simple surgery and not very complex. I go back in May for my final follow up to make sure everything is healing right.

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Hey! Did he ever mention if it was dangerous?

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longcovidflower20 | @longcovidflower20 | Feb 11 3:11am
In reply to @pikuptruk "I have been experiencing this same sensation for two years now. I have recently been diagnosed..." + (show)
@pikuptruk

I have been experiencing this same sensation for two years now. I have recently been diagnosed with Myasthenia gravis, and am fairly certain this is one of the issues I will be dealing with for the rest of my life because of it. Wondering if there are others out there who are reading this that may have MG, and are experiencing the same symptom?

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Hi, I recently have symptoms of MG and throat clicking has now appeared. Have the medicines for MG helped?

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jayce | @jayce | Feb 12 10:55am
In reply to @mushroom "Thank you for your words, they are comforting. The clicking is still there and it is..." + (show)
@mushroom

Thank you for your words, they are comforting. The clicking is still there and it is really discomforting when I swallow. There is still no pain though. I went to the doctor and they couldn't feel the click since they were pressing on the area too hard. It still clicks today and I'm thinking about going to an ENT specialist to get it checked out. Should I be concerned if there is no pain in the area? It's a annoying when I swallow 🙁

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The clicking sound you hear could be one or both of the valves of your eustachian tube struggling to open and shut, or a bubble trapped in the inner ear, possibly by earwax. Get it checked out to make sure it's not a blockage or infection, but don't go crazy trying everything an ENT might recommend. I'd take clicking and a bit of discomfort at times rather than the problems I have after an ENT over prescribed treatment for what was post nasal drip and clicking that went away after chewing gum, yawning deeply and waggling my jaw around as you would if you were on an airplane and the pressure made them stop up. Good luck to you, I hope you find answers.

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fmroger | @fmroger | Feb 15 4:02pm

I started to have throat clicking after mewing for two years (mewing basically could be regarded as a movement that sticking the tongue to the roof of the mouth, which can change the shape of a person's face and improve nasal breathing(lack of scientific basis). As my rhinitis is quite serious so i persisted and it really worked slightly) .At the very beginning,the clicking sounds in my throat appears only when i drink water, harmless,but then it became worse,it appeared even when i spoke!Especially for every word of sentences ,I think its because I was stirring the hyoid bone, the founder of mewing claims to active the back third of the hyoid bone could help you to mew more effectively (The area where the chin and neck meet) .Fast forward to last August,I started to have ETD.It was accompanied by ear tightness and popping and cracking sounds in my ears when I swallowed. Sometimes it hurts a little(Imagine when you taking a flight,sometimes your ears pop suddenly).The ear problem has improved slightly since i no longer mew,but the popping caused by swallowing has not disappeared, which greatly affects the quality of my life. Recently, I have found that burping has become more difficult than before. I need to find an angle, and when I burp, the Eustachian tube would open and the hyoid bone would be moving as well, so sometimes I can hear the popping sound in the ears and the clicking sound in the throat at the same time which is extremely annoying.
These symptoms will lessen for a while after waking up but become more frequent in later time of a day.
Now what I want to know now is, if I am diagnosed and the clicking sound is definitely caused by the collision of certain bones, if I remove the hyoid bone, will my tongue become less supportive than before? Although after experiencing so much pain, the looking is no longer something I consider, but I am still worried that having part of the hyoid bone removed will make my face longer (my face is a bit long) and most importantly,rhinitis is an issue. Sometimes you can gently stick your tongue to the roof of your mouth to relieve rhinitis. I don't want to lose some tongue strength by removing the hyoid bone (not sure if that will happen?)
I hope someone can give me an answer, thank you. Life has been terrible these past few months! Hope you guys can be back to normal life as soon as possible! Best wishes to everyone here!

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ilikecake123 | @ilikecake123 | Feb 16 7:00pm

Hearing clicking in the ears is indeed your Eustachian tubes and is normal. However, feeling a clicking/crunching/grinding/clunking as you swallow is not normal. Especially if there is pain. There are a myriad of things that could be causing it. Ranging from the easy fixes like anxiety and GERD, to the slightly more difficult such as abnormal muscle strength and cervical spine issues, all the way to the difficult to fix requiring surgery including Eagles syndrome, hyoid bone syndrome, clicking larynx syndrome. The diagnostic journey involves a process of elimination for each of these. Then hopefully a cause will be found. Best of luck to those on this diagnostic journey, I am also still going through my own.

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nurismi | @nurismi | Mar 6 9:19pm
In reply to @libmoro "Hello guys, Thankful that I discovered this forum, as I have been dealing with this issue..." + (show)
@libmoro

Hello guys,

Thankful that I discovered this forum, as I have been dealing with this issue for a while now. I do have TMJD and neck issues. It has been confirmed that my TMJD is causing my ETD as well. In such a case, I pretty much have all the mentioned symptoms: crunch/grinding in throat when swallowing saliva trickling down most prominently on the left side, shortness of breath, and being able to offset the problem by lowering my neck to my chest. While I do believe my jaw joint misalignment is the underlying cause of the issue, there are other factors that should be considered.

From what I have gathered, I believe that this is an issue with the neck that has possibly caused thyroid cartilage issues. It is important for all of us to take into account any past history of neck trauma or complications.
In this regard, has anyone gotten a neck MRI evaluated by a specialist?

I will soon get my neck MRI image evaluated by a specialist. If no luck there, I will go see an ENT and ask about my thyroid cartilage.

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Sama hal nya seperti leher saya kak...apakah tenggorokan kk udah sembuh?

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involtino | @involtino | Apr 10 8:07am
In reply to @shey "I was wondering if you ever found out what the clicking was? I've been having the..." + (show)
@shey

I was wondering if you ever found out what the clicking was? I've been having the same thing for over a month with no answers.

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Hi, I have been suffering from this click in my throat since I was 15 years old, now I am 30 years old. No one has ever found a problem and I've always been referred to the neurologist and psychiatrist but anyone who puts their hand in my throat can distinctly feel the click. If you have any information about this I would be grateful from the bottom of my heart if you would share it.

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