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

I am getting a Thornwaldt Cyst removed in a few days via cauterization / laser. An MRI along with 3 scopes identified the problem.

How did it go?? And did you have Thornwaldt’s crust type?

I had naso pharyngeal cancer and radiation to the head of course. I find that mine is because I am dry. I use Simply Saline nasal mist, daily care. Arm and Hammer. Drug Free. It's in a light blue and yellow can. 4.5oz. Not the extra in the dark blue and yellow. And I don't use the little spray bottles of saline solution. They don't work. You can use the Simply Saline as often as you like. I still get the "mucus blob" but not exactly like what you all describe. I'm not sure if this will help anyone but who knows. good luck....

Hi I'm having the same issue only mine are darker and drier and can stop me breathing in if they seal off my airway it gets real scary trying to cough it out . Has anyone had any luck with finding out what's going on . Im waiting for surgery for laryngeal cancer and scared this is going to make the issue worse .

I'm searching for the root cause of these crusts and post nasal drip for 2 years now. So far, Thornwaldt crust type was the closest match so I'm awaiting an MRI now because CT is 'unremarkable'. Yesterday evening during another one of my desperate online searches I came across chronic nasopharyngitis again, for which EAT treatment in Japan seemed to be the only fix when I found out about chronic nasopharyngitis last year. However, I now found a research article where they used monopolar suction diathermy to fix it. The article describes my crusting and drip symptoms, it's a 100% match, including staph aureus, clear ct's, failing antibiotics, everything. I highlighted some things to show my ENT and if MRI turns out to be clear and it's not Thornwaldt, I'm going for monopolar suction diathermy. If my current ENT doesn't want to do it, I'll find another who wants to. Here's the article and the photo of the crust, which fully matches the appearance of my crust.

Did it help? What happen? I have had this exact same experience for prob a year now. It's very frustrating, un pleasant and embarrassing when it happens around people. When I feel that sting I know... appreciate any advice you have from your experience.

Curious whether people have this scab symptom following turbinate / sinus surgery? It seems like the Tornwaldt nodule itself is quite common, but that it becomes infected following trauma to the nose. I would argue surgery is traumatic. I also believe that turbinate reduction will lead to this chronic infection in nasal passageways. Turbinates play a role in warming, humidifying and directing air, as well as in immune system. Reducing them I believe leads to the drying and crust formation, as mucus forms more viscous and is not cleared properly as the directional cilia function of the sinuses is also harmed during sinus surgery (from scar formation and dessication of sinus tissues).
It also seems turbinate reductions are usually 'thrown in' during septoplasties. Worth checking on your medical record if you were given a turbinate reduction.

Just some food for thought. I am no medical expert, just making observations.

Hello there, I’ve been reading this thread off and on for the last few years because I have the exact same elusive and irritating problem as you all, and have been coming here periodically to see if anyone has come up with an answer that fit. After years of experimenting and researching and trial and error to see what helps and what doesn’t, I have finally found out what mine is. I have the same exact shaped choking horrible scab thing as many that has come and gone for months at a time for the last four years. It started after I had mono after covid in 2020 and I assumed it was some side effect of having had mono all this time. The scab is between my nose and throat, on a little ledge that I can see with a dental mirror, that’s sticky and sometimes bloody and impossible to cough up or blow out. I have been suffering and choking on this thing- back and forth to doctors ent and dentists. Thinking it was a cyst or an infection. Ct scan ruled out cysts and antibiotics made no difference.
I couldn’t understand why it would go away sometimes, and then come back for months at a time- until recently.
I’ve had GERD since I was a child and have had multiple endoscopies etc. because esophageal cancer runs in my family. I do not drink or smoke and eat very healthy but it does not stop the GERD. Mine is from a loose upper and lower esophageal sphincter and mild hernia. Anyway, my last endoscopy and BRAVO test showed that my meds were not working. I have LPR- silent reflux. I don’t feel burning, only bad post nasal drip, allergy type symptoms, phlegm stuck between nose and throat and sometimes in my throat too at its worst- occasional sore and itchy throat, swollen glands and painful inflamed tonsils. It feels almost viral at times. The reflux is caused by pepsin, and enzyme that floats up in a gas- it is not controlled well by heartburn meds. The gas embeds into your soft tissue and when you eat or drink it gets activated, causing irritation that causes the throat and nasopharynx to produce mucus to protect itself. I am having no recurrences after going on the acid watcher diet, making a nasal and throat mist from alkaline water and baking soda- 1 liter of the water mixed with 2 tsp baking soda- you mist it into your nose and throat and also gargle with it before and after meals. After meals while healing gaviacon advance or sodium Alginate products keep the pepsin from floating up. That an a wedge pillow have totally stopped this from happening. I hope this helps someone!

Here is a photo of the scabs I used to get! The problem went away while I was sick and eating a lot less. It came back after I got married and wanted to impress my husband with my culinary skills. I avoid all acidic foods, spicy, onions, garlic, dairy, caffeine and sugar- sparkling water which I was drinking a ton of before this came back- as I’m still in the healing phase. As you heal you begin to feel the burning. My scope showed I had damage and I couldn’t feel it until it was really bad and making quarts of mucus every time I ate anything. Unfortunately for most people with this issue will require a lifelong commitment to a diet that is free of your triggers. Everyone’s are different. It can take 6 weeks to several months for the tissue to heal enough for the irritation and therefore the scab to stop forming, it depends on how bad the damage is. I started feeling relief after just a few days and have not had a scab reform in the last month and a half, although I am not totally free of the other symptoms yet. I have to spray enough of the mist into each nostril to get it to run down my throat a tiny bit to hit that spot.

So basically the “scab” was forming overnight which is when my issue was at its worst. The pepsin was coming up into my nose and collecting on that little ledge of nasopharynx, which is why the damage was being caused there. Pepsin digests protein in your stomach but guess what it does in your nose and throat- same thing! The scab of mucus was there protecting the spot which was getting the most irritation, likely because the angle of how I was sleeping was making it easier to sit there. I honestly had no clue or traditional symptoms of reflux at all- I was on medication and assumed everything was normal

Here is a YouTube link to a reflux doc that explains using the alkaline water/baking soda to neutralize. Saline spray did nothing for me- I must’ve spend hundreds on that a year alone!
I can’t post the link but you can look up RefluxDoc fixing LPR on YouTube