Why do I always have to clear my throat? How can I stop it? Any drug or medicat!

Why do I always have to clear my throat? How can I stop it? Any drug or medication?

I always clear my throat every now and then. I always feel the presence of phlegm everytime I tried to talk. So I have to clear my throat before I say anything. Anyway it can be stopped? Any drug or medication that I can use?

Wow. You have it worse than me. I have the same problem. I always have cold in my throat which I may need to clear once in a while. From my understanding, the problem is rooted in the sinuses. When the sinuses produce too much mucus, it drips down to the back of the throat or the nose. There can be several causes for this (some of them mentioned by other users):

1) You MAY be experiencing an allergic reaction to something such as dust mites, pollen, pet hair, etc. which means you may have something like "sinusitis allergis" or something like that (can't remember the last name). If this is the case then there are I believe over the counter drugs for this. Check the local pharmacist. This is something that can account for long term and short term effects. If long term, look for things in your environment that are always there which me and some of the users mentioned.

2) If you eat a lot of dairy products/sugary foods, this may be the problem. Milk and Sugars promote the production of mucous within the sinus glands. Sugars are a main component of mucous (it's what makes it sticky). If you think you take a lot of these products then this may be a cause for your eternally mucoused throat. Trying cutting back on them.

3) Personal habits. If you bathe late at night and go to sleep with your hair damp and/or whenever or wherever you sleep you get a draft on your head (like by an open window), this can also promote mucous production in the head which will drip down into the lungs. I don't know the exact mechanism for it (I suppose it is similar to people who get pneumonia when dropped into frigid water). Try your best to bathe earlier before going to sleep to allow your head to dry properly. Also try to sleep in a position where strong drafts don't blow around your chest area, head and feet.

4) As with anybody else... if you hardly do any form of excercise (specifically aerobic in my opinion) then your lungs and nasal cavities/sinuses don't get to operate in their INTENDED manner. As a result, mucous continually builds up into lumps which form a problem with you, whereas with daily excercise the movement of air naturally helps the cilia in your passages move the excess mucous out of your system.. try some more excercise... and try it daily.. Just some simple running should do. (Try not to run in the cold morning or evening, jog/run in warm conditions)

Hope that helps....

P.S. You SHOULD keep this problem in check because it can lead to sinus infection, or worse yet lung infection. Don't get scared, just be aware of your body. When you have a sinus infection, you usually tend to feel very tired and want to sleep a lot. The only thing separating your brain from your sinus is a relatively thin membrane, take care of that problem. (try not to think that drugs are the only solution, a lot of problems can be solved naturally)