Mucus is normal and serves many purposes in our organism, even when we're healthy. An increase in mucus production, as well as a change in mucus color and consistency - as the discussion starter described - may suggest an underlying cause.
Many joined the discussion claiming they have exactly the same thing. Some also provided a condition they have been diagnosed with, such as sinusitis or tonsil stones, while the others made only unverified claims.
I think that it may be food related.
The member who claimed this said that he/she felt it the most after eating a liver. Another member who said to have the same thing, also reckoned the problem was food related, naming, wheat or milk as possible culprits. One participant suggested eliminating dairy and sugars as they are mucus producers. Another told that from his/her experience, the hydration, as well as the elimination of mucus forming foods like dairy, completely eliminated the issue. These statements are, however, dubious, because one clinical study found no association between milk and dairy product intake and symptoms of mucus production in healthy adults, either asymptomatic or symptomatic, with rhinovirus infection.
If the hard substance is a chalky yellow and can be broken up (like feta cheese) these are called tonsil stones.
Tonsil stones, or tonsilloliths, are named as the most likely culprit for dark, chunky mucus. They are a result of bacteria, food particles or trapped mucus in your tonsils. According to one participant, tonsil stones can be worsened by sinus drainage.
However, many participants in the discussion who had their tonsils removed also reported the problem with dark and chunky mucus in their throat, so tonsil stones might not be the only cause.
Several members told that they have had this problem due to sinus or teeth problems. One of them confirmed that the green/brown/tan hard chunks coughed up in the morning could be from an infection in sinuses, lungs or rarely the throat.
Brown mucus can be caused by dryness or blood, as one participant mentioned, and it can be caused by GERD, stomach acid washing up the esophagus as you sleep. For many, smoking cigarettes was a true cause for hardened, chunk-like sputum.
One participant claimed that extra-thick, sticky or solid mucus and/or sputum, which sometimes may be brown-colored is a textbook symptom of dehydration, both environmental resulting from extended exposure to dry climate conditions, and internal resulting from not drinking enough water.
I get a burning sensation high up in the back of my throat, then I feel like there is something caught back there.
For many, this problem started as a feeling of having a sore throat that moved to the sinus area producing a gag reflex and often a choking sensation. The hard, yellow-brown throat chunks were usually reported in the morning, although many participants coughed up phlegm several times a day. Many said that their throat mucus had a terrible odor.
It's a flat, semi-hard, but sticky, greenish brown thing about the size of a dime.
The "plugs" that have been coughed up were dimple shaped, usually having a thicker greenish-brown rim, with the dimpled center that was translucent and clearer and thinner.
For temporary relief, several members suggested trying a neti pot, although it takes a lot of getting used to. Also, some participants reported their symptoms worsened after using it. Mucinex was reported to have helped soften the mucus up so that it comes out easier. Sinus meds and non-steroid nasal sprays have been also recommended. Some home remedies have been suggested as well, such as gargling with warm salt water or nasal irrigation. The best advice was, of course, seeing a doctor to get a proper diagnosis, and quit smoking if you're a smoker.
What do experts say?
Mucus - also known as sputum - is a thick, wet and sticky substance produced by mucous membranes in the nose and sinuses that moistens your lungs, throat, mouth, nose, and sinuses, and helps trap allergens (such as dust or pollen), bacteria and viruses and destroy them with antibodies or enzymes before they cause an infection or allergy reaction.
Mucus is often confused with the term "phlegm." although they're often used interchangeably, the phlegm is a different type of mucus, produced exclusively by your lungs and respiratory system.
Mucus is normal. Our bodies produce 1 to 1.5 liters of mucus per day when we're healthy. Normally, we don't notice the mucus because it mixes with saliva and we swallow it on a daily basis. However, sometimes our bodies produce more mucus than usual, and then, it becomes more noticeable.
Increased or excessive mucus production may be triggered by many possible causes, including::
- bacterial or viral infections, such as the common cold or flu
- allergies
- sinus infection or sinusitis
- irritation of the nose, throat, or lungs
- air pollution
- cold or dry weather
- digestive conditions, such as gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD)
- smoking tobacco
- pregnancy
- certain medications (birth control and blood pressure medications)
- certain foods
- lung diseases, such as pneumonia, cystic fibrosis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or lung cancer
Mucus may also change its color and consistency. It may become darker, such s yellow, green, or brown (rusty), it may have blood in it, become thicker or even chunky. These changes depend on what causes them.
A thick and dark yellow or green mucus or phlegm is usually a sign of a viral or bacterial infection (such as bronchitis), sinus infection, or lower respiratory tract infection. As bronchitis progresses, the sputum may become brown (rusty) from the old blood in it. People who smoke tend to produce more brown phlegm, because of all the resin and tar in cigarettes.
When the mucus is thicker, almost chunky, it is possible that you may have tonsilloliths, or tonsil stones, which form when debris, such as food or mucus trapped in the tonsils hardens. Dark and think mucus from tonsil stones is usually accompanied by other symptoms such as:
- bad breath
- ear pain
- tonsil swelling
- sore throat
To get rid of the tonsil stones try gargling with warm salt water or gently removing the stone with a cotton swab. Your health care provider might prescribe antibiotics to prevent infection, or suggest the surgery if tonsil stones keep coming back.
To thin mucus secretions, you should drink lots of water. You can also try some over-the-counter mucus-thinning medications called expectorants, such as Guaifenesin.
If the mucus is a result of a seasonal allergy you can try antihistamines, designed to block or limit the activity of histamine, a substance your body produces during an allergic reaction.
One of the most popular home remedies for getting rid of excessive mucus is nasal irrigation, which can be done by using neti pot or a squeeze bottle containing salt water.
The best advice, however, is to visit your doctor to get the right diagnosis and treatment suggestion.
Discussion highlights
How the participants described the mucus?
- I wake up every morning and cough up dark, chunky, hard mucus.
- it's not black, but i would call it brownish green.
- i get it from my throat and it feels like it moves to my sinus area and then i start to gag and feels like choke and finally spit it out.
- disgustinly, it hard chunky brown mucus.
- has a terrible odor.
- I spit up in the morning and during the day a thick chunky brown mucus that hardens like Elmers glue and actually burns in fire.
- I get the hard, yellow-brown, smelly, throat chunks in the morning as well.
- I fail and I get big smelly chunks in the morning that hurt to come up.
- The mucus plugs mentioned above can be both rubbery or hardened, and average a little bit smaller than a dime in size.
- It's a flat, semi-hard, but sticky, greenish brown thing about the size of a dime.
- I feel generally much more mucusy than I've ever been before - the dark, chunky stuff is only in the morning, but I do have mucus during the day as well.
- For the past 3 or 4 months, I've been getting slight "colds" - meaning, nasal congestion or slight coughing.
- and it goes away and comes back.
- Been coughing this dark stuff up for maybe a month or so.
- Your description of this plug as coin-shaped is spot-on.
- I have a deviated septum and find that eating sweets, or dessert, or chocolate makes these plugs come out more frequently.
- I have to snort backwards to get the plug down between the nasal cavity and the throat and then I spit it out.
- The brown stuff, it looks about as big as a penny is a disc shape when I cough it out.
- It's dark dark yellow/brown with some red in it sometimes that looks like a tiny bit of blood :(.
- Coughing it up feels like it is destroying my throat - I used to love singing but now I always have this stuff in my throat that gets dried out at night and I have to hack up in the morning.
- And I have gotten this weird phlegm before, as a child.
- But what was crazy is that I had the beginnings of a sore throat and was coughing up little bits of phlegm.
- When I went into a fit coughed this thing out I was so shocked.
- But that dry annoying cold like sore throat feeling I hD had , like onset of cold/sore throat, immediately stopped.
- Since then been trying to cough out something similar each time Ali have a slight throats sore but no kick.
- I drink coffee during the week at work, not on the weekend, but I still coughed up a rubbery brownish green disc shaped piece of flegm this morning, bout a half inch wide.
- I cough up flegm about twice a day.
- It's really annoying when I work because my job is on the phone and when there's a piece coming up, it effects my breathing and I have to get off the phone and run to my car to cough it out!
- It's strange because now I never get colds anymore, but I do have this flegm problem!
- everyday for about the past month i wake up and feel something in my throat.
- its very uncomfortable so i start trying to hack it up.
- its so uncomfortable and disgusting does anyone have any ideas?
- Strangely I feel it the most after I eat liver.
- i find that my throat mucus.
- i wake up 2 to 3 times at night just because iguess i can't breathe properly because of thick greenishish brown mucus :$ a ear nose and throat specialist put a freak!n camers down my throat and said i looked great.
- when i put on 38lbs.
- to 308.
- seems that is when this phlem problem developed.
- I had a life changing motorcyle wreck at Duke for 2 months long story short the first week i was in there i was coughing horribly (from what i remembered).
- i had hard brown mucus thick big chuncks.so large and thick i eliminate the spit back into my mouth and can lay down and spit strait up and hit the celing.
- I have been taking prilosec otc which helps my heart burn but still spit up the brown stuff.
- i don't cough that stuff out;
- i clear out my throat when i feel a full feeling in my throat.
- Since then I have had a few chest infections.
- Around a month ago I got another chest infection which turned into a cold.
- It has now just gone away (but I have hayfever I think) for the past few weeks I have been waking up with an extremely dry mouth and a disgusting taste which both go away once I spit out alot of green and brown gunk.
- I too experienced morning sore throats, coughing and "chunks" only to have my doctor say it was acid reflux.
- i coughed up a very strange thing the other morning, it came from the back of my throat not my lungs and it was solid like flesh.it was about 1cm by 1cm and had the feeling of soft flesh like a raw chicken, it was pink and healthylooking, i got it tested and they have no idea what it was!
- This happened to me this past Saturday.
- I coughed up a piece of something that looked like raw pink chicken about hslf the size of my pinky fingernail.
- It is significantly worse the morning after any type of dairy or soy was consumed prior to sleep, it's worse when one does not brush, scraping the tongue is important.
- its worse when one is dehydrated.
- I had a similar problem with greenish brown mucus which I thought was partly due to my weight and what I was eating.
- I thought I was the only one with this problem im 19 years old and have the same problem, I actually havent had them or spit them up in a good 8 months.
- But just about 4 days ago I ended up spitting one out and was frustrated because i thought I had gotten rid of them.
- So the past 4 days ive spit one out everyday and I when I dont spit it out I have major heartburn and cant breathe well sometimes ill spend and hour just trying to spit it out and then i feel like i can breathe so well.
- 1 thing i noticed is I drank a cup of coffee at the local store which i havent in a while and then i started spitting it up.
- also for 2 days in a row i ate homeade chilli i dont normally eat it.
- the third thing is well its starting to get cold down here and a lot of ppl are getting sick and i woke up with a little cold and runny nose and spit it out.
- I get this too, but I have no tonsils.
- It looked like it was suppose to be apart of me and I just hacked it up!
- Hard to catch air sinus stuffed up mucus drainage throat feels tight food won't stay down so I'm throwing it up a lot.
- But I also notice that when after using or sometimes not at all when I blow out what in my nose a lot of that blows down my throat and when I remove some of the boogers or scabs sometimes it goes to draining even more so causing me to feel as though I have to throw up sometimes to do but if I don't n go about my days over time eventually I have to throw it up because the food won't stay down which is very discomforting and hurts along w stomach acid.
- I have the same thing and no tonsils
- I'm 23 and only 135lbs been suffering from it for the past 6 years.
- I know this is an old forum, but I have had this for 5 years now.
- Even after the meningitis I still have the mucus problem.
- I get these too, but they originate from one sinus opening in proximity to the nasal passage into the back of the throat.
- When the plug gets large enough, post-nasal hocking dislodges this plug into the back of the throat and what is then coughed up is a dimple-shaped circular plug of dry greenish-brown mucus.
- These can suddenly dislodge into the throat with some startling alacrity, but after they do, the open sinus, which lasts for a day or two before it plugs again, is relieving.
- I've had these for about 40 years (chronic sinusitis) , and their formnation depends on the local climate.
- When I lived in humid New England (summers) they went away, when I lived in the arid southwest they were common year-round.
- The dimple shaped plugs usually have a thicker greenish-brown rim but can be translucent and clearer and thinner in the dimpled center.
- I have really bad Tonsil stones because I've needed to get my tonsils removed for 6 years.
- I have this same problem, but I do not have tonsils.
- These are not tonsil stones as many of us do not even have tonsils.
- As previously stated, these come from your sinuses and are mucus plugs as many of us do not even have tonsils.
- I'm like that 24/7 no cold no.
- It's sicking.
- I have this too can't be tonsil stones cause I have no tonsil and they aren't shaped like them.
- More like a piece of hard mucus and I cough it up every morning
- I have the same issue, it happens to me every morning when I wake up!
- Mine are usually roundish and like where mucus had been pooling up somewhere and finally worked its way out.
- I feel it in my throat, but then they come out my nose, and it's not snot, they're actually masses, solid, rubbery gross masses.
- Sometimes they jam in my sinuses and won't come out for a couple days, has destroyed my life and singing career.
- They all triggered the same symptoms as above.
- I was a professional singer and it seems like I woke up one day with endless throat clearing and these build ups.
- This has been going on for 8 years for me.
- I suffer from hardened mucus in my throat along with tonsil stones.
- I get it every time I wake up in the morning.
- I have this problem, my tonsils have been gone for 25 years.
- I also have this but didn't start till I had a tooth pulled in back of my mouth.
- I am coughing up yellow hard chunks and it hurts to swallow is this tonsilitis
- I get the same thing sometimes, it usually happens when I get a cold.
- I also get tonsil stones quite often and by God, they do smell awful.
- That horrid feeling you have when it is building up in there and pressing on the sinus cavity.
- A little while later I'm able to hack it out.
- It started 3 years ago, about a month after I had my tonsils and adenoids removed.
- I have the same thing and it happened after I got strep, its been almost two years now and I only way 122 so it couldn't be that.
- I've had this problem about 14 to 15 years ago and it was recommended that I get the old fashioned slippery elm throat losengers the hard brown ones bit they don't sell it anymore.
- This time like 15 ys ago it came up dark coffee colored and rock hard.
- Like a flat rounded dime size hard chunk of dried colored mucus.
- I have the same problem for more than 5 years now but I also have allergy problems.
- i get that every time i get a head cold
- I've had the exact same thing, two days in a row!
- The pieces are quite large and are exactly that, like raw chicken!
- I suffer with tonsil stones and have for 17 years now I am currently on the waiting list for tonsil removal but its been 6months already and is this time I am also getting mucas stuck in my throat and its bright green and hard somtimes I halftonscrape it off and it leaves my throat sore or even bleeding I can't physically take no more
- I'm getting both these problems and I wish I knew why.
- Coughing up hard brown chunks.
- Almost looked like cartilage but also had blood mixed in.
- I never found out what it was and it only happened one other time but it wasn't as large.
- been having something stuck up in there and when it comes out, it's all bloody.
- The raw chicken like piece were quite large.
- When I eat anchovies I get this gaggy feeling in my throat like I need to spit up a hairball, then after I make a GOCK noise I can get out a big chunk of mucus.
- Those are pieces of flesh being coughed up.
- I did have a piece of my gum come off after a fall that damaged a front tooth.
- It was exactly like you described.
- But soon discovered an empty spot on the gum of the damaged tooth.
- I'm on here cuz I also have hard pieces of mucus coming up, it's got to be one of the things listed here.
- Not be rude but I have a killing flu and strepsils isnt f*****g working
- i choke every morning and its the size of a butter bean and it seems to have a hard scab on it i have to gargle for about 10mins and i gag and cough at the same time until it comes up ?
- by the time i get it up my eyes are hanging out of there sockets ?i coughed one up last week it was so big i was going to put a leash on it and take it for a walk to my GPs ?im scared of coughing in public before i can take my tissue out ?
- I've suffered with that for a while, first tonsils, then sinus infection.
- Recurring.
- I get that several mornings a week.
- It's almost like a scab.
- Flat, firm and sometimes almost the size of my pinky fingernail.
- I don’t have tonsils and I’m experiencing the same thing
- This is what I am experiencing pass year and half it gotten worst.
- It making me not eat lost 16 pounds last two months.
- I get them all the time doesn't matter if it in early morning or not.
- I cough them out randomly then I start getting another one after I cough it out.
- Hi, I think the difference is if you read this post, its coming from the back of the sinuses.
- I can actually feel the small clumps back there and do the nasal throat thing and spit it out.
- Actually this morning is the second time, the first time there was two small clumps about the size of a curd of large cottage cheese but almost rubbery feeling.
- It has the color of mushrooms, that brown/yellow/green color sort of.
- I just had a horrible experience with a big hard ball looggie stuck in the back of my throat and I live alone it was 4 am and I almost panicked because I couldnt run to my neighbors for help with this.
- This happened a few years ago.
- I spit it up.
- This time I swallowed it which I wanted to avoid that c**p going through my system.
- This is exactly what happens to me after waking up from a night with dry air.
- I cough up a chunk of weird stuff like flesh!
- but i got my tonsils taken out and it is still happening?
- I have been having these coughing fits.
- End up coughing it up eventually.
- Takes forever but it's mucus from my sinuses draining (totally normal for me) but has some hard as heck mucus in with it.
- Not much at all.
- But enough to realize that was causing me to be uncomfortable and feel like I have to cough something up.
- It's been happening for a couple weeks now.
- It's a brown shade.
- I do have asthma but the mucus isn't in my chest it's draining from my nose to the back of my throat.
- It's clear as day what causes me to hack up hard mucus on the way home.
- I have disc shaped brown mucus also from time to time and it happens often after drinking or eating foods from Starbucks.
- I’ve had this chunky mucus about twice in the past couple of weeks.
- I coughed up a fleshy pink inch long thing that looked like part of my throat and my throat immediately felt a little better.
- The brown solid mucus seems to be getting worse and have a constant feeling that my throat is clogged.
- Mouth becomes extremely dry and throat is irritated when I eat or drink anything too sweet like hard candy or fruit juices.
- Yesterday mucus I expelled was slightly hardened and tinged with a spot of blood.
- A couple of years ago I was exposed to aspergillus mold in my lungs, this moved my lungs into severe bronchiectasis mode, now I am coughing these plugs up 24 hrs a day.
- The mucus is so thick I have broken several ribs coughing, even though I take guifenesin constantly and use the neti-pot, avoid allergens etc.
- I cough so hard it feels as if my head will burst!
- On top of this I am on oxygen therapy full time so that it dries out my nose and throat constantly, so I keep up on the fluid intake for sure!
- Mine does not come with a fever other but with feeling of one, I have never felt sicker in my life.
- I swear I stop breathing so many times during the night because of it and then feel lucky when I wake up choking on the phlegm.
- By the way 'FLIPPER 40', I have coughed up blood with what appeared to be a perfectly good piece of blood vessel, I don't know if it was, I didn't get mine tested but when I told my Pulmonologist he did not sound too concerned.
What remedies have been suggested?
- REMEDIES gargle salt water Ibuprofen works wonders on any swelling or pain your throat may have.
- Sinus meds help.
- Mucinex may help soften it up so that it comes out easier.
- I have been taking prilosec otc which helps my heart burn but still spit up the brown stuff.
- As far both problems go, I would look into using a mouth wash, and maybe gargling salt water.
- A nasal spray (Flonase, Veramyst, Rhinocort) at bedtime helps me as well as a Benadryl each night.
- She put me on omeprozole, 40 mg first thing in the morning and I have stopped all the coughing and sore throat issues.
- Try taking 150-300 mg of Zantac every night before bed and see if it clears up.
- I will also drink a cup of water during the night (you mite want to talk to your doctor about amoxicillin as a lung antibiotic and prednIsone) GOOD LUCK.
- Went to my doc, he listened to my lungs, and told me it's nothing and to take Mucinex - that did nothing for me at all.
- maybe you can try strepsils, it worked for me.
- Cheap(er) Walgreens brand works fine.
- I would like to say if you use a nasal spray, when you stick it in your nostril and squirt do NOT -- DO NOT -- snort it.
- It is imperative that you NOT snort it.
- That will make your throat feel you're swallowing razor blades.
- You hold your breath, squirt, and after three seconds you VERY LIGHTLY inhale through your nose and exhale through your mouth.
- Green mucus is bacteria and needs medical attention such as, antibiotics.
- so if i see my symptom goes away then i will let yall know how it went and if not then ill take some kinda of medicine for it like mucinex or something.
- the coffee may be the problem as the coffin helps in increasing the mucus and helps in its thickening so try to avoid the coffin rich drinks and food also the dairy products, i ve the same problem, and i tried many medications, try taking medications which help in dissolving the mucus
- although some of the bacterial meds do work we'll but u get the same results if u don't stop.
- Two weeks hospital and sent home with an IV.
- Mine did start from a sinus/ear infection, but even the strongest antibiotics do not make a slightest improvement so its either resistant or not an infection.
- Its better than taking meds that are hard on your liver.
- Used allergy pill, no help.
- Use otrivia.
- So I have been gargling with mouthwash no results yet.
- He gave me antibiotics which helped for about 3 weeks.
- Gave me a longer course of antibiotics, which again, only helped temporarily.
- I've had this problem about 14 to 15 years ago and it was recommended that I get the old fashioned slippery elm throat losengers the hard brown ones bit they don't sell it anymore.
- Try drinking a lot of water per day i now drink 2-3 L OR 9-12 cups and have found it has improved mucas removal and i use far less meds .
- Hope so, I don't want to just take steroids.
- Not be rude but I have a killing flu and strepsils isnt f*****g working
- Avoid antihistamines and decongestants, as these will further dry-out your sinuses/nasal passages, thereby exacerbating the problem and prolonging your recovery.
- If it's yellow or green in color you should get antibiotics.
- I'm on new medication the last couple of months that actually dries my mouth out a bit so with this cold weather and the typical sinuses draining I have no doubt I'm wrong.
- Hey Greg I can’t imagine it’s weight related bc I’m a 120lb female 20yo and I have the issue whenever I take a Zyrtec.
- The medicine always dries it while it’s in my throat instead of just my sinuses.
- The mucus is so thick I have broken several ribs coughing, even though I take guifenesin constantly and use the neti-pot, avoid allergens etc.
Verification Claims & Medical Studies
-
Eliminate dairy and sugars as they are mucus producers.
https://www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au/health/healthyliving/milk
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/2154152
In conclusion
An increase in mucus production, as well as a change in its color and consistency, may be a result of many factors, such as irritation, infection, allergy, etc. It is, therefore, important to make an appointment with your doctor to get the right diagnosis and treatment.