How To Clear Your Throat When You Have Silent Reflux

Do you often go through bouts of coughing, hoarseness, or an overwhelming feeling that something is stuck in your throat? Do you have difficulty swallowing, a constant urge to clear your throat, or have a bitter taste stuck in the back of your throat? Do you have trouble breathing, feeling a swell and irritation at the vocal cords, or frequently having a sensation of having a postnasal drip? Then you may have silent reflux or LPR.

If this is the case, that constant urge to clear your throat— using normal, forceful throat-clearing methods— can actually be quite damaging to your throat and make symptoms worse. That’s why today we’ll be teaching you how to safely relieve this discomfort without aggravating you LPR.

What Is Silent Reflux?

Silent reflux or laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) is a common condition where stomach acid build-up causes constant discomfort in your throat instead of causing heartburn. When the stomach acids come in contact with your food pipe (esophagus) or your vocal cords, a sensation of discomfort, irritation, or burning in your throat is likely to occur.

Although it is treatable, negligence of this condition or improper throat-clearing methods that most people use can make the symptoms worsen. It can even lead up to permanent damages to your vocal cords and throat in the worst-case scenarios. 

Why Forceful Throat Clearing Is A Bad Idea (And Why You Want Steer Clear From It)

A need for constant throat clearing is more of a long-standing and an ingrained habit for most of us, even though another glop of mucus instantly builds up in our throat just right after doing so. When we try to clear our throats forcefully, what we are really doing is slamming our vocal cords together. This only leads to inflammation in your throat and reinforces your urge to clear your throat again, thus entrapping you in a cycle. The more frequently you clear your throat, the more often you feel the irritation yet again.

4 Ways To Effectively Clear Your Throat

Try Swallowing Instead Of Spitting Out The Cough

When you feel a mucus build up in the back of your throat, instead of trying to remove the sensation away forcefully, try to swallow the mucus back gently. Not only will it be a much more soothing option for your throat, but the swallowing back of the mucus will not allow it to build back again in your throat anytime soon.

Instead Of Coughing, Try Forcefully Breathing Out

Even though coughing may seem to be an easy way to get rid of the irritation at the back of your throat, coughing puts a lot of pressure on your throat and vocal cords. So instead of coughing, try to breathe out of your nose forcefully. That will not only get rid of the mucus that has built up in your throat but will also give you the relieving sensation of an unblocked throat and nose.

Try to Tap Your Vocal Cords Together Gently

Another option is to  try tapping your vocal cords together gently. In that case, you will get both the sensation of relief from the irritation and it will not cause any long-lasting damaging effect on your vocal cords either.

Take A Sip Of Water

There's hardly a problem a good glass of water can’t help! This includes silent reflux as well. Often, it may just be a small amount of mucus that’s causing you bother, but has grown too thick from lack of hydration. Try taking a sip of water— this can help eliminate the irritating sensation in the back of your throat and remove any residual mucus that has formed.

Silent reflux is actually a fairly common condition that can often go undiagnosed simply because most people think all reflux must be accompanied by heartburn. If you’re prone to constantly clearing your throat, as well as other common LPR symptoms, talk to one of our reflux specialists at Tampa Bay Reflux Center! We’ll help you find the most accurate diagnosis and create the most effective treatment plans. Set up an appointment today!