I have the misfortune of knowing a person who is constantly clearly his throat at a rate of about once every 20-30 seconds, all year round. He does not make any effort do this discreetly. He also constantly spits out his phlegm whenever he has the opportunity to do so.
He does not have a cold, and he tells me he does not suffer from allergies.
Why would a person do this? Would this behavior reflect a physical ailment, or a mental one??
Thanks.
Surley it’s physical, can’t fault him for that, unless they don’t seek some kind of treatment. The mental part comes in, in that the person doesn’t try to hide it. I know a guy like that, he’ll hauk (sp?) it up all loud and put it in the office trash can all day. Enjoyable to be around. :rolleyes: I my self make an effort to excuse myself to the washroom and do it there.
I know a couple of people like that and indeed it is allergies that are the culprit. Just because he says he doesn’t have any doesn’t make it so.
Annoying
As
All
Getout.
Probably allegies. When my allergies get bad I get the urge to do something similar until I take medication. When I was a little kid it was a lot, lot worse, and annoyed the heck out of my parents. None of us knew there was a medical cause, they just thought I had an annoying habit.
FWIW, my dad has this and his is caused by chronic sinusitis. There doesn’t appear to be a cure but he’s had great success with symptom control with OTC Sudafed.
Could be tourette’s or OCD.
Does he act strange or get really uncomfortable when you mention it?
I vote for undiagnosed allergies, or just general overproduction of phlegm or mucus.
My dad clears his throat a lot, but that’s because he has Parkinson’s. If your colleague was in this situation, the other effects of the disease would likely be more noticeable.
Errant pubic hairs? 
I had the same problem, a constant tickle in the back of my throat. It turned out to be a side effect of a blood pressure medication I was taking. My doctor gave me a different prescription, and the problem went away.
Perhaps a on-going low level sinus infection of some sort?
I’ll happen to bet it is allergies. Like Lieu said -just because he says he doesn’t have them doesn’t make it so.
My husband used to do this all the time, we finally realized it was allergies. Now I just get him to take sudafed. And yes, it is incredibly annoying.
If its a physical problem, its probably an allergy. Otherwise, its considered a tic. If he has multiple tics, its Tourette’s syndrome. Does he have any other weird mannerisms? Eye blinking, noises he makes other than the throat clearing, other strange movement? IF so, its Tourette’s. There are medicines that can be used to control it too. Its also suppressable, for a period of time, it is Tourette’s, by the patient, but eventually they just feel a need to do it. Looking back, I knew two people with tics growing up, a friend of mine and a high school gym teacher that was constantly making this weird dolphin like noise 24 hours a day, very subtle but noticeable, like a tiny little squeek with her voice.
It can happen with low grade allergies and is a common side effect of some anti-hypertensive medications and can in some people produce an almost constant feeling of having something stuck in your throat.
A guy I work with started doing this and it turned out to be his blood pressure medication. His regular doctor was overseas so the guy he saw figured it was an allergy and sent him for tests. It turned out he was allergic to something growing in the bush near his new home and he was desenistized to that. This fixed up an amazing array of minor problems - joint pains, lethargy, sleep problems and skin disorders but not his throat problem. When his regular doctor came back he knew the answer immediately so now John is cured of all his niggling health complaints.
This happens to me, I get a tickle in my throat or something (although I don’t cough anything up…ewww), and its OCD. I mean, there might have been a time when I had a cold and had to clear my throat, but then it just became habit. My mom pointed out to me that I cough every time I pass over this one spot of carpet. So for me, it is just habitual. I try not to do it too much in public though, but like I said, if it’s habit…