1. < Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT)

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?

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Ear, Nose & Throat (ENT) Support Group.

codybmusser | @codybmusser | Dec 29, 2019
In reply to @reebobbin "Everything you explained and even your pictures are spot on with the issues I’m having. I..." + (show)
@reebobbin

Everything you explained and even your pictures are spot on with the issues I’m having. I have always thought it was staph. I wonder if we could pass this info along to Reddit? They are very good at identifying health problems. Anyone familiar with Reddit?

Jump to this post

I'm a Reddit user actually, so I've shared our thread there in the r/askadoc subreddit. For others to follow along, it's here:

[REDDITURL]/r/AskDocs/comments/eh5ves/myself_and_others_are_coughing_up_firm_but_slimy/

REPLY
reebobbin | @reebobbin | Jan 4, 2020

You are so awesome. Thanks for doing that!! I hope it gains more attention and we can figure out what in the world is going on.

REPLY
codybmusser | @codybmusser | Jan 5, 2020
In reply to @reebobbin "https://www.reddit.com/r/AskDocs/comments/9xpujg/thick_green_post_nasal_drip/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf Check that post out" + (show)

Seeing other people that describe the problem similarly is really nice to see to make one feel like it's not unique, though of course I don't wish the annoying symptoms on anyone. Unfortunately, it seems years of posting here and even that Reddit thread (or mine) aren't really generating conclusive or definitive 'answers' in a way that any of us can go to a doctor and be like, 'hey, this really appears to be this, a specialist has seen at least one case and it's been confirmed'.

Instead, we get a rough list of about 15 things it could be, despite some people with very much 1:1 symptoms, and no one really does a post-diagnosis confirmation message that it's been diagnosed, treated and solved -- at least not in any of the posts I've seen (they all appear very loose). I'd love to see at least one person come back and say, 'hey, it's this, here was my journey to figuring that out, and now it's been treated and I'm fixed.'

REPLY
reebobbin | @reebobbin | Jan 15, 2020

You hit the nail on the head. It’s so exhausting searching for answers and opening up to strangers about this problem, yet we get no where. My health insurance changed this month, and it’s awful. I don’t foresee many specialists visits in my near future. A lot of the people who are treated and no longer have the symptoms, don’t care to come back and share with others.

REPLY
ben1985 | @ben1985 | Feb 8, 2020
In reply to @klpdx "I’m so sorry—it looks like you definitely have the same thing I, and likely more than..." + (show)
@klpdx

I’m so sorry—it looks like you definitely have the same thing I, and likely more than a few folks have on this forum. I completely understand—things have gotten so bad I’m waking in the night choking on this thing. It used to happen every few days, then I had nasal surgery—the airflow improved, which definitely made things worse. Now it’s every day. It’s worse on days I can’t cough it out...because I can feel it there. It’s kind of like how your ears, nose, and throat feel right at the beginning/end of a cold. My humble advice? New ENT, stat! You totally have chronic adenoiditis, and that means low-grade inflammation is happening above your hard palate ALL THE TIME. I had to do a month of antibiotics (did nothing) for insurance purposes, and finally, FINALLY, surgery is scheduled to have the dang things taken out. The last time I was scheduled to have them removed, my insurance changed and I couldn’t afford it. Then this summer, another ENT agreed they needed to come out...but the surgeon decided it wasn’t necessary during my nasal surgery, and DIDN’T DO IT. He was so sure fixing my nose would solve everything...nope. Worse. I went back to him and insisted earlier this month. He tried to blow me off, then the thing that finally seemed to get his attention was when I told him that because of this, my throat hurt every morning, and the base of my ears hurts every night. See that depression in the center of the scab? That’s where your adenoid is, the mucus is dripping back and hardening around it. Sometimes it hardens around the entire thing like in your 2nd picture, and sometimes just the top, like in the 1st and 3rd. Please don’t give up. Doctors work for YOU. It’s my actual job to help them, and all to often the attitude is: “I’m right because, duh, I’m the doctor here.” They aren’t all knowing and all powerful, they make mistakes and overlook things. You deserve to be heard. Good luck. Please keep us updated!

Jump to this post

How was your recovery? I just had my adenoid taken out for the very same reason. I am on day 9 post op and today I hacked out something similar to what I used to. I am worried that the adenoid was not the issue. Or perhaps you did the same thing for a while until everything healed?

REPLY
ben1985 | @ben1985 | Feb 20, 2020
In reply to @codybmusser "I thought I would share as I also suffer from what appear to be the same..." + (show)
@codybmusser

I thought I would share as I also suffer from what appear to be the same symptoms as indicated by many, and have yet to find a resolution via a Doctor.

- I've had the primary symptom where I occasionally catch in my throat and can cough up a mucus-y, but firm booger/scab every couple to few days
- I've seen an ENT twice, each time been prescribed an antibiotic but there has been no permanent solution (I can't remember the antibiotic names)
- I've been scoped and it was said that she saw 'dry crustiness' but no confirmation of an issue or condition
- I believe something was sent to the lab, but I never received a confirmation upon those results
- I was asked to nasal rinse daily, of which I attempted to do my best, but it honestly was never a solution either (and daily boiling or carting around distilled water in NYC is honestly a lot)
- I nasal rinsed daily to start, with mupirocin diluted in to the water, but after a month or so swapped to more like every other day, then it trickles down from there
- Honestly, even daily didn't affect the symptoms much

Some unique or personal notes:

- I live in an extremely dry NYC apartment, and DO frequently believe that I breath through my mouth during sleep, but I can find no solution for that
- I run a humidifier (and clean it) but have found no affect on symptoms
- I can actually, with my tongue, reach back and up, into the beginnings of the nasal passage, feel the dryness and beginnings of deposits and occasionally dislodge
- I otherwise do not cough, feel ill, or suffer from any other symptom
- I'm 34, male, healthy weight, don't suffer from acid reflux to my knowledge, and don't smoke or drink alcohol

Because I think the photos are helpful for others, I've been saving pictures of the result of discharge for a month and I'm sharing for those that are also suffering -- these occurred every 2-4 days or so, for a month.

The ENT I'd visited seemed fine, but I'm also not interested in guessing at antibiotics once every year or so only to see no change, and the presence of occasional blood (as you can see) is troubling. I really did think it might have to do with sleeping and dryness, but the comments in the thread have been interesting to also see.

Jump to this post

I have the same thing. They said it was my adenoids. They took them out and these pics are after the adenoidectomy! So now I have lost all faith in my ENT.
REPLY
ewwyep | @ewwyep | Mar 8, 2020

Have others posting here had the Tornwaldt Cyst idea ruled out? I've been reading about that since someone came back with that as a diagnosis, and gotta say some of the symptoms really seem to be lining up in a pretty distinctive way.

REPLY
1 reply
ben1985 | @ben1985 | Mar 14, 2020
In reply to @ewwyep "Have others posting here had the Tornwaldt Cyst idea ruled out? I've been reading about that..." + (show)
@ewwyep

Have others posting here had the Tornwaldt Cyst idea ruled out? I've been reading about that since someone came back with that as a diagnosis, and gotta say some of the symptoms really seem to be lining up in a pretty distinctive way.

Jump to this post

My doctor ruled that out after a CT Scan as I thought the same thing. I will say a month or so out from having my adenoids removed my symptoms have dramatically improved. I am about a week or so between these incidences now and when I do have it, they are a fraction of the size they used to be. Right after the adenoidectomy it was almost every other day and they were huge. I am hoping it continues to improve. I will update here if it does.

REPLY
Lisa Lucier | @lisalucier | Mar 17, 2020

Hi all, as social interaction is limited with the COVID-19 virus and many members have concerns they'd like to discuss, I wanted to make you aware that Mayo Clinic Connect has opened up a brand new group dedicated to COVID-19, https://connect.mayoclinic.org/group/covid-19/. The hope is to help members connect and cope during these unprecedented times.

Please follow the COVID-19 group by clicking on +Follow, look at the discussions there and participate. You are also welcome to start a new discussion on any COVID-19-related topic you'd like to discuss.

REPLY
View MoreView Less
Please sign in or register to post a reply.