How does chronic throat clearing differ from chronic cough?
I’ll first have you demonstrate the answer. Half swallow some mucous, then clear your throat. Next, give a good, deep cough. The two actions – throat clearing and cough – are very different. Cough is a loud barking sound, caused by attempt to forcefully expel something from your airways; the thing you are trying to expel could be deep down in your lungs or in your throat area. Either way, the effort requires taking a moderate or deep breath and forcefully exhaling with a loud, sharp sound. Throat clearing is different. It doesn’t require taking a moderate or deep breath, and is more like a heavy, gutteral sneeze. In fact, the chronic throat clearer often elicits a spontaneous “gesundheit!” or “bless you!” because people think he’s sneezing! That never happens when someone coughs. Note that, because the problem with throat clearers is mucous in the throat, they will occasionally feel the need to cough it up as well. However, cough is not the predominant symptom, throat clearing is. When
