Throat Clearing Tic?

[Anonymous]

I am losing my mind. My son is 11. He clears his throat constantly. He is healthy. No asthma. Athletic. I’ve googled and can only come up with the conclusion that he has a throat clearing tic that apparently is not unheard of at his age. Has anyone else solved this? I can’t stand it.
The advice seems to be to NOT comment on it but that is easier said than done. I need this to stop. Any advice from someone who’s experienced this with their child? This has been going on for awhile.

[Anonymous]

You cannot make it stop. Leave him alone.

[Anonymous]

Sorry OP, not sure there's anything you can do.

I tend to clear my throat a lot and it's because I have a mild post-nasal drip. I don't have asthma and never have. But I'm not going to put myself on daily meds just because it annoys someone.

[Anonymous]

I have something similar as an adult in middle age and I can't stop it either. There are habit reversal strategies I'm not all that inclined to push hard at (it's an intermittent thing). But it would boil down to whether the tic is distressing to the person who has it, not whether you find it annoying.

[Anonymous]

My 10 year old started this a couple weeks ago, and I noticed a tonsil stone. After trying to get it out a few times, one morning he woke up and it was gone. He's been "purring" since, though. I am wondering if it's a tic, or became a habit when he had the stone. It drives us nuts too!

[Anonymous]

I mean, it's ok to ask yor DS is his throat is bothering him, or to be alert to any comments from him that it is. But please do not push at.

[Anonymous]

Tics can be annoying, scary, concerning, confusing, or all of the above. But they usually pass or morph. Age 10-11 as far as I understand is the height of it. Something like 20% of kids may have tics at one point, but we only notice a small % of those.

My son had a throat clearing/huff/cough tic for three months at age 7 and it reoccured very briefly at 8 and 9 (after an actual cough). Definitely a tendency to tic, but also probably caused by an actual sensitivity/sensation in our case (which is related).

We saw a pediatrician, pediatric pulmonologist, neurologist, urgent care one night at the beginning when it was constant and we were alarmed, and ultimately a behavioral psychologist (tic diagnosis confirmed by neuro and psych). Literally a week after seeing the psych, it disappeared. He's 12 now.

Child hasn't had any other noticeable or disruptive tics, but does have some tendencies that are probably less noticeable tics. Things like intermittent neck stretching, nail biting, movements of fingers, etc...

When this was full on it was briefly accompanied by head jerking and other tics that I honestly can't recall. I never would have thought I'd say that in the moment, but years past, and it's better now.

[Anonymous]

OP here,
Thanks. We don’t comment on it anymore, since asking him if his throat was bothering him, and checking his glands for swelling, etc. I’m not a doctor but generally he is good at self reporting discomfort and he notes none.
We’ll hope it’s a phase and goes away.

[Anonymous]

Tics generally come and go. I have to say the throat clearing or sniffing ones are most annoying to me. Keep watching him, tics can sometimes move down the body to shoulders, arms. Once my DS's shoulders or neck started up I knew the sound ones were gone....for a time!

He is at the prime age for them. It will get better!

[Anonymous]

You are not even sure it is a tic. It might be asthma. It might be some other reaction. Leave him alone.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You cannot make it stop. Leave him alone.

clearly you are not parenting a child with a vocal tic during a pandemic while you also suffer from misophonia. I'm not OP, but I understand how physically painful and anxiety inducing this can be. I'd check in with your doctor, OP.

[Anonymous]

The pandemic has made out daughter’s tics much worse. Hang in there.

[Anonymous]

It could be Gerd. My 8 yr old nephew was doing this and they eventually figured out it was an overproduction of acid. He’s on Prilosec and feeling much better all the throat clearing stopped and he sleeping better.

[Anonymous]

Is it possible it's an allergy? Might be post-nasal drip. Have you talked with the ped? I would take that route.

I had an older relative who started doing this suddenly in older age. It was really irritating for his wife and others. With a kid, I'm inclined to think it might be something that is a phase. Are there any times when he isn't doing it, like when he's distracted or really engaged with something? Might be useful to pay attention and see if you can figure out when that might be.

[Anonymous]

I have Tourettes Syndrome including a throat clearing tic. Your comments are pretty insensitive to your son who may have a serious condition. Take him to a doctor.