My 6 yr old dd has this habit of clearing her throat. I don't mean to sound irritable or mean or anything but it is so annoying. She clears her throat or makes these throat sounds like every 10 seconds. She says that her throat does not hurt and that there is nothing in her throat but she says she can't stop doing it.

Has anyone ever heard of this? Is it something i should be concerned about? Or will it just go away?

TIA

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 04:08 pm:

I know an adult who does the exact same thing - think it's a nervous habit on his part. He's done it as long as I've known him - which is about 25 years!

Are you sure she doesn't have a sinus drip thing oing?

By Trina~moderator on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 04:18 pm:

My DD (7) used to do this quite often. We also wondered why. We even took her to visit her GI specialist, wondering if her reflux was acting up again. She was on reflux meds all summer but the throat clearing didn't stop. Her speech therapist thought it might be a nervous habit. We still don't know for sure what caused it, but it just dawned on me that she hasn't done it for a long time. She also had an annoying cough with no fever or cold symptoms, not asthmatic, that disappeared when she started taking Claritin. Nervous habit? Allergies? Who knows for sure, but in my DD's case, I'm leaning toward allergies. Hmmm, she has been sleeping in her brother's room, which has a HEPA air cleaner, for several months now. Very well could have been allergies... Thanks! Your post made me come to a realization. LOL!

By Bellajoe on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 04:21 pm:

Thanks. I was pretty much thinking it was a nervous habit too. I think if I just bit my lip and ignore it, hopefully it will go away!

By Karen~moderator on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 04:55 pm:

Patti, I'd try that before saying anything to her. Bringing it up, especially if she senses it annoys you, may just make it worse. How long has she been doing this?

By Mommmie on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 05:33 pm:

Throat clearing can also be a tic associated with Tourette's Syndrome.

By Momofmax on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 09:42 pm:

My husband does that! We've been married almost 12 years and after soooo much money and time spent on trying to fix it I've just learned to live with it. It's a nervous habit. I just try to get him to relax as much as possible and when things are really rough he'll take a Simply Sleep pill to get to sleep. I think yoga would help but he's not open to that kind of thing.

By Bellajoe on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 10:20 pm:

She also does this shoulder shrug thing. The doctor did call that a tic and didn't seem concerned with it. He said that tons of people have tics. The weird thing is that i didn't notice her doing the shoulder shrug thing at all this summer, but right after school started, she started doing it again. And now we have this throat clearing going on too.
Perhaps this warrants a call to the doctor again.

By Bellajoe on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 10:22 pm:

Oh, Karen this started probably a month or two ago. It really annoyed my dh then. And it didn't bother me, i barely noticed it. But now it's driving me crazy too.

By Dawnk777 on Tuesday, November 1, 2005 - 11:15 pm:

How about annoying throat noises in a 47 yo? LOL! DH has lots of environmental allergies, so when the pollen is in the air, he's always clearing his throat, too. It happens when he is around cats, too.

By Children03 on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - 07:40 am:

My daughter does the same thing! She is almost 6 years old, but she did it a lot last year when she got strep throat (3) times and had her tonsils out. I thought after she got her tonsils out the clearing of her throat would stop, but she is still doing it. It drives me crazy.

By Kaye on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - 07:54 am:

I think if you have 2 tics, it is certainly worth a visit to a doc. Could just be nerves, could be something more serious like tourettes. But as with many things, unless the symptoms are effecting (or going to effect) quality of life there isn't much they do, but monitor and check in on them. It is probably nothing.

By Vicki on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - 08:05 am:

I never think calling the doctor is a bad thing. Better safe than sorry in my book. What some what worries me is that she has another "tic" that took the summer off. But now that school is back, that one is back plus a new one. Does she like school? Is she a child that feels lots of pressure? Not saying that anyone is putting pressure on her, she might put it on herself! Dd puts lots of pressure on herself and it had led to problems in the past. I do think calling the doctor couldn't hurt!

By Bellajoe on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - 02:22 pm:

She loves school and does great on her home and school work. I don't put any pressure on her (at least i don't think i do) because she seems to breeze through her work.
She is a little worry wart though. She even bites her nails, she really has no nails left to bite. I am pretty sure she hates the fact that she is in school all day and her 4 yr old brother gets to be home with me all day long. Once she gets home, she doesn't get to chill out and rest because her little brother bugs the heck out of her, he really makes up for those 6 hours she was gone!

The thing is that she does not have these tics in the morning when we are busy getting ready to go to school, and i don't notice them while she is playing. It is mostly when she is relaxing and watching t.v.
I think it is really nothing but nerves, but I will call the doc this afternoon or tomorrow.

By Kernkate on Wednesday, November 2, 2005 - 02:28 pm:

My DS makes throat noises at night while he is sleeping. Our Ped. said it was post nasal drip when he is laying down.
Probably worth having it checked out.
Good Luck.