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Every day I cough up what looks like a scab with ugly mucous and blood

Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) | Last Active: Dec 4 7:51pm | Replies (391)
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@bfrank

Ugh, I have the same exact issue, and it looks like I took the photos you posted. I've had several ENT visits where they claimed my regular mucus wasn't draining properly, and the pooling of it was causing these weird rubber chiclets. I had surgery for a deviated septum and bilateral turbinite reduction. Post-surgery, I have gone from hacking one of these out weekly to at least once a day. The ENT surgeon told me to use a sinus wash and pop a mucinex daily. I don't want to have to do this. It sounds like a bandaid and is not a solution. My primary dr suggested it was allergies and something that I just need to deal with. I asked for and went through all of the allergy tests and came up with zero allergies. So frustrating and, honestly, quite embarrassing trying to dislodge these things.

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Replies to "Ugh, I have the same exact issue, and it looks like I took the photos you..."
@seekinginfo | @nrd1 | Nov 21, 2022

@bfrank-
Question for you. Did you have any breathing issues before the Septoplasty/Turbinate reductions?

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kathleenintexas | @kathleenintexas | Mar 16, 2023

As I read about problems with mucus in the throat, I never see fungus mentioned. The Mayo Clinic came out with a study in 1999 that a majority of sinus infections were fungal in origin. I had sinus surgery in 2010 and had to ask the surgeon to send a specimen to a lab to check for fungus. The response from the lab was 'yes' there was fungus, but they did not specify which one. And my ENT never mentioned the word fungus. It is very difficult to completely eradicate fungus from the sinuses, but diet changes, supplements and irrigating can help control it. The fungus produces a very thick mucus that pools in the back of my throat at night while laying down. It only drains if I am upright, so I am usually up 3-4 hours in the middle of the night waiting for it to clear, so I can lay down again and get more sleep. Even the CDC came out with
"Fungal Awareness Week". From their website: "A key clue to when a sick person may have a fungal disease is that he or she is being treated with medicine for another type of infection but does not get better." So, consider fungus.

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