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

Posted by needtoknow @needtoknow, Feb 10, 2016

Every day I cough up what looks like a scab with ugly mucous and tiny amounts of blood. It seems to come from the back of my throat or nose. My doctor has seen the scab but does not see anything wrong. This, to me, seems really odd. Has anyone had this problem?

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@mythroathurts323

Yep, I have had these on and off in the past 2 years, though they seem to be forming quite regularly now. I also had septoplasty with turbinate reduction around 2 years ago also and also have significant GERD.

Do you have any more information on your cysts? What has the doctor said? Are you able to get rid of them with medication? I assume it's not cancerous?

Thanks for your time.

edit: Oh my god, I have seen the pictures posted in this thread and what I cough up looks exactly the same! There seems to be a lot of septoplasty and related surgeries amongst us all having this problem :/

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In my case, I had them a couple times a week prior to surgery and they became daily post surgery. My ENT surgeon thought my deviated septum and enlarged turbinates was the initial cause but that obviously was not the case. Very frustrating

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@sarahbrhein

Hello all, thank you for posting about this topic... I too am plauged with the crusty greenish yellow circular phlegm balls that I have been coughing up every other day. This has been happening to me for almost 3 years, but gotten much more frequent with time. My doctor cultured my phlegm and it came back as heavy growth staph areus (not mrsa) with rare white blood cells seen and many gram positive coli. I was put on 300mg of clindamycin 3x a day for 10 days. Immediately the coughing of these nasty things stopped and I could finally rest my throat. However, 6 days after antibiotics were over (yesterday) the darn thing was coughed up again 🙁 now, it looks much clearer and a little smaller than before, but still concerning and has the darker spot in the middle. It's really hard too in the center.

Today I saw my ent for a endoscopy (he saw the phlegm sitting near my antenoids near the nasopharynx far back in my nose in the center of my head.) He then did a sinus CT which he said showed nothing abnormal... He isn't worried about this ball of phlegm and said I do not have a sinus infection. He said it's common for staph to collect in the nose. I seriously don't understand why the antibiotics stopped this while I was on them if it wasn't an medical worthy bacterial infection?? He won't give me antibiotics for longer because he's afraid of side effects like c diff and said I don't need it. :/ I told him I literally cannot live with this forever, as it hurts to hack this stuff up. He then replied that he can offer a biopsy of the area that will check the cells as well as culture the samples and he will clean the area with antibiotic ointment. I seriously doubt this is going to help, but I am out of options and just want it to be over with so I agreed to do it next Wednesday.

Has anyone ever had a remedy to this madness? I am at my wit's end. To make things even more interesting, my left eyelid is dropping and started around the same time as this mucus issue. My neurologist 2 years ago said my MRI was normal and I am fine. So it's normal to cough up phlegm balls and have a sagging eyelid at age 30? Someone PLEASE help lol ........

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Mine looks exactly the same, shape and rounded edges too! Some mornings mine is a bit bloody or has strings of blood hardened in it. Warning, gross pics to follow! The bloody one is today & the yellowish is yesterday. Front and back images.

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@minnymama

Oh my goodness. I’ve been dealing with this since college!!

I’ve been to several ENTS- none knowing the cause but offering the same thing- antibiotics, a CT scan, etc. they’re always stumped because they can’t find anything!

I’m wondering what everyone’s thoughts are on Sjögren’s syndrome or lupus? Do you think this could be a symptom and we have this autoimmune disease that causes this? At this point I’m so frustrated with seemingly no one being able to pinpoint what causes this.

I noticed mine are a bit more bloody when I’m feeling sick. Green typically.

I get them worse in winter time. However feel generally fine other than having to suck these up from my throat. 🙁

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I have psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune disease. Will ask my ENT about this. Are there no med students on here to input some valuable info?

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@r4d

I've had this for weeks after sufery. Ears plugged throat sore. About every three days huge scab and phlegm gross.

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Does the scan look like what I just posted? My ENT was very co fused by what I was describing & went straight to Augmentin for 10 days, which we all know will help for a couple of weeks at most following treatment.

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@shelleybug

Mine looks exactly the same, shape and rounded edges too! Some mornings mine is a bit bloody or has strings of blood hardened in it. Warning, gross pics to follow! The bloody one is today & the yellowish is yesterday. Front and back images.

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I just posted my photos and the shape and size is the same as yours. I do apologize for the bloodiness that this morning's has. Yesterday the color was more like yours. There is a cyst some people have called a Thornwaldt cyst. I'm going to ask my ENT about it.

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@shelleybug

I have psoriatic arthritis, an autoimmune disease. Will ask my ENT about this. Are there no med students on here to input some valuable info?

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Curious what they will have to say about this.

My doctor also prescribed the same antibiotic. And has ordered another CT scan to check for the thornwaldt cyst.

Crazy enough- I’ve been in Mexico all week and haven’t had one of these..

I live in the Midwest originally and get it bad in the winter & had been experiencing them this time around since October. Winter definitely makes it worse for me.

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Had this promlem 15 plus years live in the uk

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@zmoore87

Hello. This is my first time commenting on here. I'm a nurse with over 10 year of experience, and 2 of that working directly for ENT specialists. In addition, I am currently suffering from the same symptoms that many have mentioned. Symptoms: Daily mucus plug that is about the size of a full fingernail. It begins with swallowing excessive post-nasal drainage, the drainage builds up, then an irritated and stinging sensation, and finally it reaches a point when I know hacking once more will dislodge it. Once dislodged, it has a firm yet tacky texture with fresh mucus borders. Sometimes it has a scant amount of blood. I have a history of sinonasal surgeries to correct a deviated nasal septum and to open for proper drainage of the sinus cavities. Most recently, I went to my local ENT at Ohio State which is ranked #3 in the country for ENT. They performed a nasal endoscopy and found that I have a nasal perforation at the back base of the septum. He stated he believes that the back of the opening is acting as a dam, preventing the drainage from draining quick enough. This is backing up and allowing it time to dry and become tacky. They have recommended that the perforation be corrected to allow better drainage. Let me say this, it occurs worse in fall and winter (dry months). Note, these symptoms are different than those experiencing scabs in the nose, and different from those with COPD who cough up mucus plugs (this is a lung disorder). Those experiencing what I have would do well to use saline rinses that promote flushing out excess mucus. It is a drainage issue. Best of luck to everyone and may we all gain some relief soon.

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@zmoore87 Thank you for your detailed description. You said the ENT recommended the perforation be corrected to allow better drainage. Did you have the procedure? If yes, did it solve your drainage issue?

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@jasonjbj

Had this promlem 15 plus years live in the uk

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That's a long time. Do you also suffer from post nasal drip? I experience those scabs for 1 year now together with post nasal drip. I notice that sometimes the drip seems to stop, a scab will form, and when I take out the scab, the drip continues. Like it can't pass the scab while it's there. Weird stuff...

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@evar1989

That's a long time. Do you also suffer from post nasal drip? I experience those scabs for 1 year now together with post nasal drip. I notice that sometimes the drip seems to stop, a scab will form, and when I take out the scab, the drip continues. Like it can't pass the scab while it's there. Weird stuff...

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Not that I have noticed. They always come back with an infection all different kinds. they taste pretty bad. I make like a suction in back of throat to get it out. Sometimes they are there for weeks .
Had nasal surgery . That did not help. Pretty sure all the infections
Brought on fibro. I guess I have to live with it

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