My 8 year old is always clearning his throat.

[Keepingon]

Hello.  I have an 8 year old who is making these noises with his throat and clearing his throat all day long.

He is beiing desruptive in class...the teacher has complained.  I don't know if this is a bad habit or something could be wrong with him.

I have multiple sclerosis... so anytime I see something wrong with my kids,  I can not help but think the worse.

But this is becoming a serious problem.  The only time he is not making this noise or clearing his throat is when he is sleeping.

Any advice??

[Carol in PA]

From your description, I think your son has a tic.
A pediatric neurologist should be able to diagnose this and advise you.

Here is an article written by a mother of a child with this problem:
Facial and Eye Tics in Children: The Links to Magnesium Deficiency
http://www.ctds.info/tics.html

Wishing you the best,
Carol

[BhumikaMD]

Hi,

There are several causes of the symptoms you describe that your son is having - this could be secondary to post nasal drip seen in acses of sinusitis, rhinitis and asthma; this could be due to GERD; tonsillitis or rarely - out of habit.

Since when is he having these symptoms? Does he have any associated symptoms of cough, breathlessness, wheezing, post nasal drip, fever , etc?

Is he on any medications currently? Has a CT scan of his sinuses been done? Is he allergic to any specific substances? Have he had allergic reactions in the past?

You could give him oral antihistamine medications like cetrizine or loratadine and see if it helps with his symptoms. Also try steam inhalation, warm saline gargles and saline nasal drops several times a day.

If his symptoms still persist, you should consult a doctor because then he would need to get certain investigations done and would probably need steroid nasal sprays and a course of antibiotics.

Let us know about any other doubts taht you have and post us on how he is doing.

Regards.