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hyoid bone problems

History of my problem: For as long as I can remember, I have had a problem with my hyoid bone popping out and causing excrutiating pain. It is always the same - the right side of my neck. At about the age of 8 I talked to my pediatrician about it and he promptly told me it was not possible. That I was having anything "pop out" in my neck. He contended that there wasn't anything there that could pop out. So I just continued to push it back into place whenever it popped out. Back then, it was very easy to push back and only lasted a few seconds until I got it back. About 3 years ago, I noticed that this was happening more and more frequently (used to be about 2-3 times per year) Now it was happening about every month and was much harder to push back. Sometimes taking 20 or more minutes. During that time, it was extremely painful to swallow or talk. After I would finally get it pushed back into place, the pain would go away, but my whole neck would be sore up to my ear and through my jaw. It felt bruised, but no visible bruising on the outside. Over the next couple of years, this problem continued to get worse, happening weekly with some minor "slippage" on a daily basis.  Throughout my life, I have talked to various family practice doctors about this problem. They all contended that it must just be a "lump in my throad" like when you get emotional. Or maybe it's just excess head conjestion. Or maybe it's just a muscle spasm. Or maybe I'm just imagining it. Whatever the case, no one had ever heard of anything like it and no one ever took me seriously. So, I started researching on my own. I could not find anything that sounded like what I had. I posted questions to "Ask and Expert" all over the web. I did get some respones. all of which started with "wow, that is interesting. Never heard of anything like that before." One physician directed me to find a good ENT. So, I did. He took me seriously. He ran tests - CT scans, swallowing x-rays, blood work, etc. I saw a speech pathologist and everything. The swallowing x-rays showed that my hyoid bone did not more in unison. It appeared that the hyoid, which I'm told forms in the womb from 3 point of origin and then fuses into a solid bone before birth, had never fused into the solid bone at all. The ENT that ran the tests did not feel qualified to handle this case, so he referred me to a colleague who does a lot of throat cancer surgery and work around the hyoid bone. He reviewed the tests and theorized that if we removed the portion of the hyoid that was not firmly attached to the rest of the bone, it should solve the problem. I ran this thought process past the head of Otolaryngology at the Mayo Clinic, who had also never heard of such a problem, and he concurred that this theory did make sense. However, there were no guarantees due to the fact that no one had ever seen or heard of anything like it before. So, I went ahead with the surgery on 10/26/06. It seemed to go well. For 3 months, I had no problems. Then on 1/23/07, it popped again, just like it had always done. I immediately went back to the surgeon who is completely at a loss of what to do. His only recommendation is to do more surgery and remove more of the hyoid bone. However, the more they take out the greater the risk of swallowing issues post-surgery. I'm not sure I'm ready to sign up for that again just yet. Since the 1/23 incident, it has happened 3 more times with the last time being only 2 weeks from the previous episode. I'm worried that this is going to continue to get worse again. If it were only going to happen a couple of times a year, I would just deal with it like I have my whole life. But if it gets back to being almost every day, I can't imagine having to continue to deal with that for the rest of my life. As long as the bone is in place, I have no problems. No swallowing problems, no pain, nothing. I just never know when it's going to pop. I do a lot of public speaking and presentations. My greatest fear is that it will happen in front of an audience. The pain is so sudden and intense that I immediatley burst into tears. This is the main reason I have been pursuing this issues to begin with. Any suggestions? I saw in your archives that a person with the nick name of "creyn" described a similar condition back on 11/22/2004 on this web site. Did anyone ever help her? Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!
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Avatar universal
I have been dealing with this my entire life since early childhood, but mine pops out on both the left side and the right. I was also told by numerous doctors that there was nothing that could pop out in my neck/throat. It has always been much easier to push the left side into place but both sides are excruciatingly painful. Thanks to this post I am going to ask my GP for a referral to an ENT. I'm wondering if there is a way to fuse the bone. Best wishes.
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Avatar universal
38M

Mine has popped out my whole life.  It actually "dislocated" 11 years ago and never went back (I sneezed).  The pain went away by that evening, but I can always feel it protruding out of my neck.

I've thought about going to an ENT because it's unnerving, but after reading this I don't really want to waste my money.
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hi everyone I am dealing with this throat problem right now. Im at the beginnning but as I read I could become worst. Any suggestion to imrpove my situation? I know this community is old but may be someone can help me...
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Hi Shell K. It's been 11 years  since you posted about your problem with your hyoid  bone. Did you ever get any resolve? I recently wrote a post trying to help. Please let me know how you are. So many of these doctors are incapable of  truly healing a patient because the way they learn in medical school is appalling. Instead of figuring out the root cause of a patient's problem they are quick to diagnose, correctly or incorrectly, so they can assign a medical code and close the file. Unfortunately due to the medical system/insurance system today, doctors need to see too many patients in one day to be of any help to anyone.  I truly feel for how they must go home at night frustrated from working all day and accomplishing nothing. My apologies to all the doctors who do not fit the above description as it is not my intention to insult every doctor out there.  
ShellK, if you are still reading these posts and receiving notifications, please keep in touch. If you still need help, keep reaching out. If you have found answers, please share. There are many suffering that could possibly be helped by your success story.
God bless.
Joyce
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Avatar universal
Hi Shell
I know many years have passed since your post. Did you ever get any resolve in your hyoid bone issue?  Please let me know. If not I will be glad to go over with you a very strong possibility of what this "popping out of place" could be.
Joyce
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6 Comments
I am also interested. 4 months ago, after I had cervical spine trauma, my hyoid bone started clicking while swallowing and popping out while turning my head to the left, it is very annoying, can't stand that feeling.
Hi, I solved the problem with an Upper Cervical Chiropractic (Kale Method). After 1 year of adjustments I solved the problem. Now I see him every 3 month to mantain. The chiropractic arrived When I had to get the surgery but thankfully, I have preferred to try this Method.
Hi Ernuste and Maryflorence1976.
A little anatomy lesson in case this is new to you. The  bones in our body have muscles attached to them and when there is tightness in the muscles it pulls on the bone. Sometimes the tightness is enough to shift the bone out of place which is enough to cause us discomfort or pain. In the case of the hyoid bone there are four muscles that  are attached and any kind of trauma/surgery can tighten the muscles. Any or all of these muscles can cause problems. Sometimes the shift of the bone from the tight muscles can cause change in speech as well. As an advocate for  alternative treatments, I agree that chiropractic helps to an extent. Bearing in mind the adjustment shifts the bone back into place but if the tight muscles are not released, the bone will pop out of place again. Sometimes the shift is subtle and it takes a while for you to feel the effects of the displacement of the bone.  This is why you  end up needing  to go for repeated chiropractic adjustments. It would do both of you good to find a clinical or medical massage therapist in your area who will be able to treat the musculature so that you do not continue having the same problem over and over.  Please let me know if you have any further questions. I wish you well. There is so much more  information  I can share with you if I know a little more about your situation.
Hi did this really work for you? Did you have hyoid bone syndrome? I am desperate thank you
Hello, Maryflorence1976 and Sickoflyme2, thank You for the information and advice. I am looking for possibilities to solve this alternatively, because I am from Lithuania and I've seen almost all possible medical doctors, who should know about this problem, but it seems like I am the only one  in my country with subluxating hyoid bone.  Thats why I would like to solve this without surgery, because nobody would know how to do the surgery, ENT said that the risk is higher than benefit. But it's very difficult to live with that, I can't even work or socialise with other people, because the symptomes are unbearable sometimes, I suffer not only from the clicking ang popping, but also I feel strangulation feeling in front of my neck...
I have had many medical issues over the years and got tired of going to doctors who would either guess ("let's try this for 2 weeks and if it doesn't work we'll try something else") or say "I don't know" and refer me to a "specialist" while YEARS of my life were passing by. There was a time in my early 50s when I started calculating in my mind how much time I had left to suffer before I would die. It wasn't until I decided to take my health back into my own hands and not rely on the doctors to get well that I started to feel better. Now when I don't feel well I look at EVERYTHING going on in my body and everything is interconnected. And yes, massage works for me. I am a massage therapist and sometimes when I work out with weights I will get that strangling feeling in my throat a day or so later. It is the tightening of the muscles in the neck area which in turn pull on the skeleton  which cause that feeling. Find a well educated massage therapist in your area who will evaluate you and establish a plan of care. Massage works for many weird pains and odd sensations in the body. It even helps with my Lyme disease/co-infections. I hope this helps. Please feel free to ask any questions I might be able to answer.
Avatar universal
For as long as I can remember I've had this issue where it feels like something in my neck moves out of place. It's not particularly painful, just a bit uncomfortable. But when it doesn't go away it's VERY annoying, because I can feel it when I swallow. The only way I've found to 'fix' it is to move my throat around with my hands until it goes back into place. I've never gotten it checked out before because it's not really painful, but I wonder if it's a similar issue to everyone here? I have a knee that comes out of place slightly that I have to move back on a regular basis(WAY more painful than my neck), so maybe my body just isn't held together as well as it should be? Whatever the reason, this post has definitely brought me some insight. I don't know if I'll ever get my neck looked at, because I've had many issues in the past of going to the Doctors with symptoms and them telling me there's nothing wrong...when there is. But at least now I have some idea of what's happening to my neck!
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Avatar universal
I have it to. Im 19 yrs old. Im in so much pain. It happens like twice a year with me to and it happened tonight and it wont go back in its been 3 hours!!!
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Avatar universal
So glad to know I am not the only one with these Hyoid bone problems! I have been sat here reading for nearly an hour. I want to add my bit. Maybe it will be helpful.

I am 32 and I remember having this 'dislocation' some time during my early teens. I don't know exactly how it started. Frequent chest infections and the associated heavy coughing maybe?. There was a period of about a year when I occasionally would strain my neck in a certain way and the click would happen. Then the panic. What's happened? Why won't it go away? The pain of swallowing or talking as if someone was holding a knife to my throat. It felt like my windpipe had gotten hooked on something and was going to rip open if I kept on swallowing, which of course I would have to eventually. I truly thought I was going to die. Eventually I figured out that yawning released the tension sometimes. Sometimes i could physically click it back in place. After months of anxiety it eventually subsided.

It has on occasion resurfaced over the years. It happened again the other day as I stretched my neck whilst lying down. In that moment of panic I forgot what to do to fix it. 10 mins later I tried yawning and it went back. I know it is real because the area is still sore from it. So today I decided I needed to know if I was in any danger. And thankfully I found this post.

It sounds like there are a lot of varying causes ultimately ending in the Hyoid unhousing itself. So sorry to hear of those of you to whom it has been so chronic and severe. I am glad at least that you have found support from others in the same boat. I think in my case knowing how to fix it quickly is the key to preventing frequent reoccurrence.

I haven't been to the doctors because he already thinks I am having psychosomatic hypoglycemic symptoms. But with this info I might bring it up with him in case there is anything more to it.

I have a hunch that my muscles might be the cause of the problem. I have always felt that they are not up to scratch. If I throw a ball with any force my arm is sore for hours. I seem to be able to strain muscles by merely stretching them. Perhaps the muscles in my neck are equally fickle? Some people have mentioned Hyper-mobility. Muscle abnormalities a likely cause in some people maybe?

About me, I am male, average height, but slim. Asthma and a weakness to respiratory illnesses. Suffer from on and off anxiety and depression. And whatever my doctor thinks, I suffer from low blood sugar frequently.

Hope that helps someone.
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Avatar universal
I forgot to add that this pain spreads too at the base of the skull and sometimes it gives a bad headache.
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Avatar universal
I posted here some year ago before having the surgery with dr. Berke in Los Angeles. I am italian and apologize for my English.
My issues before the surgery were a clicking sensation when swallowing on the left side of my throat and the feeling of a muscle that was pulling my hyoid bone to the left when talking and swallowing. Any popping sensation.
Unfortunatly the surgery didn't fix this problem, that I am now convinced was from laryngopharingeal reflux, muscle Tension Dysphonia and TMJ.

I had the surgery in august 2010. In the following years it happened from time to time to wake up in the morning with a sharp pain in the opposite side of my hyoid bone. This pain usually disappeared during the morning.
Over time this has heppened more and more frequently, up to nowday when I am in constant pain ( 6 months now)
It's not easy to indicate its exact position: I would say at the base eof the tongue spreading behind the eye and the jaw.

I am writing here in order to know if any other that underwent the surgery is experiencing similar problems.
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Avatar universal
Finally, I have found others who know what I am talking about.  I am in my 50's and have had this problem all my life.  It feels just like a bone popping out of place.  I used to be able to make it pop back in place just by moving my jaw, opening my mouth, yawning - anything like that.  

In the past year or so, though, I have had to manipulate it back into place using my hand, and I can push it in and out, in and out, over and over with my fingers.  It clicks loudly with every movement.

The pain goes through my jaw and up into my ear too.  

I had convinced myself that it was cancer of the eosophagus, but I just don't present with any of the other symptoms for that, although I have suffered nightly acid reflux for a few years now, and sometimes, when the pain in my neck is coming and going it does send a burning sensation down through my chest.    

I am very reluctant to see a doctor as I have a fear of being told I have cancer because I would refuse treatments for cancer.  I have no faith whatsoever in any cancer treatments, and I firmly believe that the so called treatment is worse than, and just as deadly as, the actual disease.

I just wonder if many of you - or your doctors - had ever considered the possibility of cancer when you were seeking answers, and if you sought medical examination with that in mind.
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Avatar universal
I  still have this i am on year two and now i am noticing the muscles in my nose are being affected. Does anyone else have trouble smelling? or pain in there nose? Thank you
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14235899 tn?1433514779
I have this as well and have had it since I was a child. I was wondering if anyone has experienced this in relationship to severe child abuse? I'm currently 52 years old and was a victim of severe child abuse that often including choking. Is there anyone here who has had trauma to the neck/throat? I never knew there were so many other people having this problem and attributed it to my father choking me as a child. I always pop it back into place but it is extremely painful and scary. I never considered seeing a doctor about it.
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Avatar universal
I have read almost all the comments.most of you said you can pop it back.I want to know how you do this ?
I have a constant pain for more than 24 hours.Sometimes is bearable but sometime it is very painful.i cant sleep for a single second.A strange feeling pops up radiating pain  from neck to jaw.head and upper chest.
I don't know how to make it normal for at least a minute or even a second.
i can't look up at ceiling ,neither can touch my chin with my chest.If a take deep breath the pain would increase,sometime i feel like i have lost the ability to swallow.My neck seems to be rigid.while swallowing anything i can feel a noise.touching my neck feels very uncomfortable.neck tenderness over hyoid bone.I almost forgot what was the normal condition of my neck.
Does these symptoms are the same as you people?
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Avatar universal
how did yours go?
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Avatar universal
i thought i was the only one.
There are so many people suffering from it and still no cure :(

I believe it just doesn't kill people but sometime i just want to shoot my throat or hang it.

5 ENT's in 15 days.they all told me i had throat swelling.

But i don't know what throat swelling has to do with with this bone.on outside my throat is so tight.

Someone please send me a message if he/she got relief from it.
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has anyone found any relief?
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How did you surgery go?
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I am having a surgery by Dr. Smith next month.  How did yours go?
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11 Comments
How did your surgery go?
Hello, any updates? How are you? How did your surgery go?
I am very interested as well as I am considering having the surgery because I can no longer live with this.
LAJ4life, are You planning to do the surgery to dr. Smith? Or somewhere else? Do You know ENT surgeons, who would know, how to solve this problem? Did You consult with surgeons and what they say?
I saw Dr. Berke back in 2014 but I only got an injection. It helped for a while but now I am in daily pain to the point of where I cant work. I would get the surgery through him I believe however I don't know if it will fix my problem because I have clicking on both sides and it isn't palpable it is just when i swallow. He said my hyoid bone is way to close to my larynx
LAJ4life, Have you tried other options to reduce the symptoms? Like physical therapy, chiropractor or sth? Hope, that surgery will help you to feel better, wish you the best and I'll be waiting for your updates
I tried physiotherapy and it made it worst. I did a few chiropractor treatments but it didn't do anything. what is STH?
I mean something... sorry for my mistakes:( can I ask you, what kind of exercises or manipulations was done to you during physical therapy? Have you tried electrostimulation, for example TENS?
I'm asking because I am physical therapist, who suffer from clicking and pain. I am trying to find the way to solve this, so the information about your bad experience would be very valuable. For me, hyoid bone manipulation from side to side made the symptomes a lot worse... I almost became suicidal...
They took each muscle of my neck and massage it it triggered more inflammation for me. Right now i am at my worst. Do you take anti inflammatories? They seem to help sometimes iwth the pain. Please dont ever feel sucidal because there is hope even though i feel that way alot too.
Yes, I take anti inflammatories, it helps a little for a while...  I have tried craniosacral therapy in combination with acupuncture, but there was no relief. Streching exercises are not effective. I also use lexotanil and tranxene for better sleep, now I am going to start fluoxetine because I am on depression due to this hyoid issue. Im trying to stay strong...
Avatar universal
I phoned the office of Dr. Picken and the nurse had her right beside her and checked and I was told she does not do the hyoid bone surgery.  I'm a bit bummed as I'm told that i need it.  
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Avatar universal
Is anyone updating to this site any further?  The injection I had in my neck did not help me.  I've checked with a few ENTs in my area and they all tell me they don't treat hyoid bone syndrome.

One out of town ENT recommended Dr Berke or Dr Woo in NYC.  Has anyone ever used Woo?
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Avatar universal
I saw a great ENT in northern Virginia yesterday who diagnosed me with hyoid bone syndrome.  He gave me an injection into my left hyoid area.  He used an ultrasound to show where I was rubbing together.  He's not sure the injection will help.  It's been almost 24 hours and I'm still crunching.  Not sure if it will take longer.

He cautioned me about the surgery that he personally has never done it and it would certainly permanently change my swallow.   Hoping it doesn't come to that.

Interested if anyone has updates on their situation.
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Avatar universal
Any update?

I'm dealing with this issue for 2 years and I'm betting I need to have this surgery.  I'm in Richmond, VA.
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Avatar universal
Did you ever figure out your hyoid bone problem?? i am so desperate I need help so badly. Thank you. god bless.
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