I have a problem with having constantly to clear my throat. Not having a cold or sore throat I don't know why this is happening. Every day, normally in the mornings, I really have to strain to clear what feels like thick phlegm from my throat.
Other members of my family have the same problem. It manifests itself by having to clear one's throat several times during a conversation. My wife thinks it's a nervous affliction but I can assure you that it isn't and that there is something there that has to be cleared by reflex action.
Someone else said it could be caused by a drinking cow's milk. Do you know what it could be?
This is a very difficult question to answer and we can only really give you some general advice. To be more confident that you have found the cause of the problem you really need to go and see your own doctor about this so that they can carry out a physical examination.
First of all, it could be a nervous habit, as your wife suggests and it may be that other members of your family have the same habit. Constantly straining, as you put it, to clear your throat will cause the throat to become inflamed and sore - and one result of this is that the secretions are increased. It could be a cycle of throat clearing, more mucus, more throat clearing.
But, there could also be some underlying problem in the throat. Throat polyps are very common and are found on the vocal cords. Clearing the throat very strenuously can irritate the vocal cords and polyps can form, which then add to the sensation of needing to clear the throat.
This is something that you doctor could check out very easily by looking at your throat with an endoscope.
It is also possible that you have a post nasal drip. This is where you have a problem more in your nose, maybe a chronic sinusitis. Mucus drips down the back of the nose into the throat and causes phlegm to build up, which then causes you to need to clear your throat. This is something else that your doctor could check out.
With regard to cow's milk, it is relatively common for people to have lactose intolerance, which is an allergy to the sugar in cow's milk. However, although food allergies can cause the throat to swell, lactose intolerance usually causes other symptoms such as abdominal pain, bloating and diarrhoea. If you don't suffer from any of these, it seems unlikely that you have a problem with cow's milk. However, this theory is easy to test - if you avoid cow's milk for a period of time - say three weeks - and monitor each day how your throat is, you should get a good idea whether cow's milk may be contributing.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
Will try rice or almond milk since I really dislike soy flavour
Quite separately I would always get a sessional cold which would start as a sore throat then normally end up as a chest infection. Stopped going to the doctor after a while, would just take a day off near the start and normally cleared in a week.
I'm now 26 and over the past four years I have found that (cows) milk causes me to have a sore throat where it feels like there's excess phlegm in the back of my throat. At first I only seemed to need to avoid milk when I was recovering a cold or when I felt like my immune system was "down", but now it's more often than not.
I never get any other symptoms, just the thick gluggy throat. drinking soy milk and gargling salt water when I do indulge in diary seems to manage it - but I'd love to know what the root cause is and if I could still enjoy my beloved diary once more.
After six months of trial and error, including an allergy test (which wrongly suggested gluten intolerance), visit to the doctor (he wrongly suggested asthma), and changes to my diet I eventually isolated cow's milk as the cause.
Since giving up cow's milk the symptoms have gone, but I only have to eat a pizza, or take milk in my tea for the symptoms to return. (It usually takes 24-48 hours for my symptoms to develop)
Interestingly, goat's and sheep's milk is OK and I can eat goat's cheese and feta without problems. I've no idea why it should just be cow's milk but there you go.
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