Throat Clearing in Children

Does your child clear his or her throat often? It could be an early sign of asthma.

For some children, frequent throat clearing is the only apparent asthmatic symptom. The most common recurrent symptoms that parents report are coughing with a cold, coughing at night, coughing in the presence of smoke, coughing when laughing or crying, coughing during exercise and coughing associated with vomiting.

If your child does this, tell your doctor about it. It is important to start treatment early, because children with early diagnosis and early treatment fare better than those left untreated or treated later in life.

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine, cited a study done on the island of Crete. The parents of over 2500 three to five year old children attending daycare there were asked, among other questions, “Does your child have a habit of clearing his or her throat often?” More than one hundred parents said yes.

When pulmonary function testing was performed on the children believed not to have asthma, the results were enlightening; these children all had mild asthma that had not yet been suspected. And their lung function and throat clearing improved with asthma medicines.

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