hair caught in throat

[smfong]

I have the feeling of a hair caught in my throat.  I also have a cough that may or may not be related (I've been clearing my throat).  This happened a few weeks ago and persisted for at least a couple of days before it seemed to resolve itself.  I'm fairly certain that it was a hair and not an abrasion because I felt that I could feel it move as I inhaled and exhaled.  It's causing discomfort just by being there itself, in addition to clearing my throat and trying to "suck" it out (not using an external, foreign object but I guess the reverse of the suction you would create when using a straw).  Nothing is visibly there but it may be further down than what is in plain sight.  It's triggering my gag reflex as well, but I have not vomited; it's just adding to the feeling of discomfort.

Assuming it is a hair or something similar, what are some ways that I can try to get it out or push it down past my throat so that it does not bother me anymore?  It's persisted through drinking fluids and eating.

[smfong]

Thanks for your reply.  I did run across the possibility of tonsil stones when googling the issue and tried to peer into the back of my mouth but didn't see anything.  It doesn't help that I have a gag reflex that varies in severity, limiting how much I could do to locate a tonsil stone, let alone try to dislodge it.

A tonsil stone may well have been the problem, but the feeling actually went away within a day or so after writing the original post.  Also, I don't recall having a bad taste or odor in my mouth.

Whatever it was, I look forward to it not happening again.

[PoppaDillio]

this is almost certainly a tonsil stone.  do you still have your tonsils?  have you noticed a bad odor/taste in the back of your mouth?

you may not be able to see it either as they are often located in the back or underside of the tonsil or in another difficult to see location.

anyways assuming you do have your tonsils and it wasn't actually a hair or foreign object...what likely happened here is that something(such as an unrelated cough etc) loosened or partially dislodged a smaller tonsil stone....it feels very much like a hair stuck inside your throat and the description you gave of being able to feel it "move" is exactly how it feels when this happens.  sometimes they only get partially dislodged and you either get used to the sensation or they eventually fall out unnoticed.  

try taking a small LED style flashlight and something like a popsicle stick and try sticking your tongue out forward and downwards as much as possible while you probe around your tonsils with the stick.  you can gently push your tonsils around to get a better look in the difficult to see areas and look for small white, offwhite or yellowish colored specks/objects embedded in and around the tonsils....especially inside small craters or divots on the surface of your tonsil(imagine a golfball) and particularly in the areas that are sort of shielded from the main pathway of your throat.

google tonsil stones to get a better idea of what they look like and possible ways to remove them as they are disgusting and can cause illness and terrible bad breath that literally smells like fecal matter.

hope this helps