Constant throat clearing

[mshanson]

I have a question about our oldest son. He's 4.5, and in the last month, he's developed this thing with his throat. He's constantly clearing it. It's totally unconcious, he doesn't realize he's doing it. We've tried asking him if he has something in his throat and he says no, and looks at us like what are you talking about, lol. It's pretty frequent, several times an hour (sometimes several times a minute). Then other times he might go a couple/few hours and not do it at all, or hardly at all. One thing I do find it's definitely at it's worse when he's eating (it can be almost constant while he's eating) and right after he's eating. My father has a hiatal hernia, so this makes me wonder if maybe DS has something going on? He doesn't have any other signs that I can tell of reflux, but then again I know sometimes it's hard to tell.

I did mention it to our doctor, but she didn't even look at him, just said, "Is it bothering him?" (it's not, he doesn't even realize he's doing it), and then said, "Well it's probably post nasal drip." I really don't think it is. He has NO allergy signs at all.

I know sometimes throat clearing can just be a fluke tic in children's this age, and I don't think he has any signs of Tourette's, so I don't want to make a big deal out of nothing, but would you take him back to the doctor to see if something's going on in his throat?

[Annadell]

My 2.5 year old has started doing this, and it sounds so much like an allergy issue just because it's so dry. She is  also sniffling a ton. But after reading all of your posts, if it continues after the sniffling stops, it could very well be acid reflux. Her stomach hurts frequently from chronic constipation, but she also had to be on Zantac for the first several months of her life for acid reflux, so maybe that isback? It is too early to tell much since she has only been doing it for barely a week, but I am glad I came across this string early on! I have a sound sensitivity disorder, with repetitive noises being one of the worst triggers, so this has been just so much fun...

[Lou10155]

I took my 13 year old son to his doctor for the constant throat clearing and she prescribed flonaze, it didn't help at all. She also told me, it could be a habit. That some kids have this habit or tic. She said most likely they will grow out of it. He does it worse when eating, or showering.

When I have asked him about it , he says he's fine, and seems to not know he does it. But like all the rest of the parents, it bugs the heck out of me, not knowing.

[Inneedofhelppls]

Did you ever find a solution to the problem?

[Pandafriendly]

I am going through the exact same thing with my daughter, 4.5yrs. The clearing escalates when food is around and come to think of it, especially cold foods, like yoghurt/ice cream.

Haven't been to docs yet as thought the ignoring approach would work, but it's been 6 months now and we are seeing no improvement and finding it rather annoying.

Please post any outcomes any of you might have.

[melt868]

So why is this suddenly normal. I grew up with 4 siblings, my aunt had 5 children and my other aunt had 9 children. I also had tons of friends. I never knew anyone who did this as a kid yet on this site and a bunch of other sites everyone is acting like this is normal and no one in these forums or their doctors has an answer for it. My son has this problem and I've gone to 2 doctors and all they want to do is prescribe drugs. Neither of them can give me a definitive answer on what's causing it  but they both are quick to try and give a 6 year old some sort of medication. They have so far tried to get me to give him 3 different kinds of drugs but I'm not giving my child their drug when they can't tell me why he's clearing his throat.

[NK19861967]

Hello Sysmom, did you ever hear anything back from the initial poster mom? I am going through the same thing with my son right now. Constantly clearing his throat while eating and sometimes even not when he is eating. Did you get any resolution? I don't know if this is a tic or a throat issue. It's only been going on about a week now, but I can't decide if I should take him to the doc or not.

[Inneedofhelppls]

Did you ever find a solution to the problem?

[Nicdris]

My 5 year old has also been doing the same for around 4 weeks now. This morning I think that he coughed up a tonsils stone. I wounded if this could of been the problem all a long.
How is your childern now?