Particularly in pollen season, I have a bad habit of dealing with thick snot in my sinuses by sucking it down to my mouth to spit out — if feels like it is drawn down from the roof of my my mouth but I suppose it is actually some breathing path in the back of my throat. I’m not clear on this. Language of forceful expectoration, such as "hocking a loogie," classically seems to refer to coughing phlegm from the throat for expectoration. Is there a medical name for the sucking of nasal mucous down from the sinuses to the mouth?
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The act of moving mucus from the nasal passages to the mouth by forceful action of the muscles of the throat and soft palate is commonly referred to as "postnasal drainage" or "postnasal drip." In a medical context, "postnasal drip" is often the term used to describe the sensation of mucus accumulating in the throat or dripping from the back of the nose. This is caused by mucus from the nasal passages flowing into the throat.
When people refer to "hocking a loogie," they're usually talking about forcefully expelling mucus or phlegm from the throat or lungs, which is technically a combination of coughing and spitting. The medical term for spitting out mucus or phlegm is "expectoration."
However, the specific act of deliberately sucking mucus down from the sinuses to spit out doesn't have a distinct medical term that I'm aware of. It's more often just described in the context of symptoms or habits associated with postnasal drip.
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