Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with mucus

How can I get rid of this mucus from throat?

InterestedInKnowing — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 08:07:03 -0800

My throat has been having a lot phlegm. I'm a singer and I don't know if it has to do with any dairy products I'm consuming. I haven't had a cold for several months so I'm not sure how to get rid of this problem? Any suggestions?

hhhhaaaark

Anonymous — Sat, 09 May 2009 09:58:57 -0800

I have a gross question about having a productive cough. I've never asked a doctor, since I don't believe it's important, but I've wondered all my life, and now that I have another one, it's come up again. (Literally.) When you're coughing up matter, sometimes it comes out in thick, tough fragments, as if you're coughing up skin -- which of course you aren't, but a sore throat makes it feel that way. What is that? Why?

Boogey Nights

scruss — Tue, 10 Feb 2009 18:11:24 -0800

Nocturnal nose-picking: how to stop something I'm not even aware of doing? [slightly gross details follow] From the number of, um, magic nose goblins around the bed in the morning, it is evident that I pick my nose in my sleep. The quantity of nostril shrapnel evinced nightly is alarming, and ms scruss finds it unattractive.

I've tried to cut down on dairy products before bed, to little effect. Sprays help a little, but have strict limits on how often you can use them. Any other suggestions, short of hypnotism or a Dremel tool?

Cats are Gross

crush-onastick — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 06:20:43 -0800

My kitten is snotty. Some sort of permanent virus he picked up in the shelter. I've talked to the vet about his health, but she had no tips for keeping my house mucus-free. Help? The cat is generally healthy, if a bit wheezy, and I've checked with his vet several times about how to detect actual respiratory distress and what to do about it, &c, so that is not my concern here. My concern here is the projectile snot I find stuck to the walls or--my very favorite ever--got in the face this morning while I was still sleeping. Clearly, I cannot teach the cat to use a tissue (for all his fondness for unrolling the toilet paper roll), so I'm looking for alternatives. Do you know any cat homeopathic remedy that will cut down on the goo in his nose? Or any way to keep him from sneezing globs of it all over me & my house? Tips for cleaning it up?

He's a great little guy, but I am so not excited about a lifetime of cleaning cat snot off me and everything else.

Infertility or Infection?

marypj — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 11:09:01 -0800

green mucus during ovulation but pap smear comes out negative two days and during my ovulation days, I use the restroom and see a green mucus and sometimes it hurts when we have intercourse. I've had a pap done and the results came back negative. I know that during ovulation, I should have a light clear almost egg white mucus. It has to be an infection but I don't know what it could be and I'm worried that this may be the reason why my husband and I haven't been able to conceive.

Mucus-y lips?

rbf1138 — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 13:11:34 -0800

The last few days I've noticed that my lips, mainly the in-my-mouth part, have been feeling kind of numb after I brush my teeth, and they have like a sticky, mucus-y membrane on them all day, as well. Don't think I've ever had this before...any ideas on what this is and how to get rid of it?

How do I prove to my doctor that I have a sinus infection?

bitterkitten — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 07:35:57 -0800

How do I prove to my doctor that I have a sinus infection? Now I know that typically, your average doc will go "does your head hurt a lot? feel pain in the jaw? tooth area? yellow or green mucus? painful sinus areas?"

And if you say "no" to all of the above, the likelihood of them wanting to give you antibiotics is nil.

However, I have experienced, previously, the same symptoms I've got now - TONS of drainage to throat, far beyond what i normally get from allergic symptoms (which I keep under control pretty much with regular allergy injections, saline rinsing and astelin nasal spray), and super heavy-feeling head. Of course, I don't have the green or yellow mucus. My current doc says the problem is just an allergy flare-up. I haven't had this problem much since I've had this allergist, so she doesn't see that I have previously had this occur. Usually it happens when I get a cold, and the cold goes away... then it turns into this. Of course I do every damn thing I can to prevent it, crank up the humidifier, go to sleep earlier, etc....

Sure, I know that there's the chance that taking the antibiotics could be coincidence in terms of eventual improvement, or the placebo effect... but after having something like this for a couple weeks, and nothing improving it, in the past, I have seen antibiotics do the trick.

And yeah, I could just go to another doctor.

But couldn't whether or not I have a sinus infection just be proven with a throat culture, and then we'd be done with this kind of argument? If not - WHAT is the 100% definitive way to tell if a person has a sinus infection other than the usual melange of symptoms?

Mucus, is it better to spit or swallow?

birdlips — Wed, 18 Oct 2006 11:39:36 -0800

When engaging in a high aerobic activity that causes mucus to build up, is it better to swallow the mucus or spit it out? When I am doing things like mountain biking or running and I reach a certain point I start to generate a lot of mucus in my nose and throat. I generally just cough it up and spit it out. However, during my run yesterday it came to me that they may be some benefit to digesting it rather than disposing it.

I know mucus is primarily made up of mucin, water, cells, and inorganic salts. Knowing that, it seems it can't be worse to swallow it.

I was wondering if anyone had any opinions either way...other than the obvious gross factor.

Also, if anyone has an opinion to why I might be producing mucus only when I reach a higher anabolic state, I would appreciate it.

Thanks!

What is this green ball?

JakeLL — Thu, 27 Jul 2006 08:31:49 -0800

I cough something up every morning. I would like to know what it is. Description inside [mildly gross]. Okay so almost every morning for the past 4-5 months I have coughed up a pea-sized, squishy, ball of green/yellow mucus. No more, no less. The particularly strange thing is that while "squishy" it holds or binds together in it's ball shape much stronger than any mucus I have ever seen, much less produced. (This may be extremely gross, but it's not as bad as it sounds or I would have asked sooner. It's just very wierd to produce something of this kind of consistancy [both time and texture meanings intended])

Now I don't experience this any other time in the day. Also I'm aware of the fact that green/yellow mucus normally indicates infection. I don't feel sick but about a month into this experience my girlfriend developed a laryngitis type illness. It stands to reason that they are most likely related, however no one else I know has gotten sick around me.

Family members have suggested that this is caused by allergies, but I've never had this type of reaction to an allergen before, and am not very allergy prone.

Is my throat abnormally suggestible?

kittyprecious — Thu, 26 Jan 2006 19:29:47 -0800

Why is it that I feel nauseated when I hear other people rattle their phlegm (you know, that pre-loogie sound), but my own throat feels somehow "better" when I hear someone else clearing his?

Why the mucus?

geekhorde — Wed, 04 Jan 2006 14:33:54 -0800

Sick Filter- So, I got a cold a few days ago. I'm mostly better now, but I still have gobs and gobs of mucus being produced. My question is, why? What function does it serve if I'm past the incubation period for the virus? It's disgusting, and I'd like to understand why it's happening.

I have so many questions about snot.

TheDonF — Thu, 03 Feb 2005 12:57:52 -0800

Snot! Does it have any calories? If so, how many? Is it a mystical celery-like substance that takes more calories to digest than is contained in it? If so, how much would you need to get through to lose a pound of lardiness? If it doesn't contain any calories, then why not? So many questions!

Do I Have Allergies?

nelleish — Tue, 13 Jul 2004 06:20:18 -0800

Do I have allergies? (more inside) First off: I'm not looking for medical advice, just comments from anyone who does have allergies and maybe recognizes my "symptoms" as such. If it does ever get worse, of course I'll go to a proper doctor, right now I'm just placating curiosity.

So here's the story: I have always tended to sneeze often, but I never really thought about it. However, over the past year or so I've had a constant overproductive nose. I haven't needed to blow it, but there's plenty of muscus and mostly not clear (but instead, other fun colors). It isn't anything truly irritating or impending on any part of my life, but it makes me wonder if I am allergic to something.

The points against it being an allergy is that it hasn't increased or decreased in response to any regular factor. My family has always kept many pets, but I don't live with them anymore. I've always been active outdoors and doubt it's pollen or anything else seasonal. It's been there winter and summer, and regardless of where I'm living (which has variously been southern suburban Ontario, coastal Maine, and rural northern Maine). The only thing I've every reliably concluded as being a trigger for a sneeze or two is ingesting strongly flavored/aromatic mints, otherwise I just sneeze more often than other people. I've used google many times to look up allergies, but I don't suffer from any of the comonly listed symptoms, no congestion or watery eyes, etc.

So am I just a snotty kid, or mildly allergic to everything? Again, I'm not suffering from it (the mint thing is actually a decent party trick), but I just wonder sometimes what causes it, and worry it might get worse, especially since the snot thing is a relatively recent development. Thanks!