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

Hi! I just ended up here because I'm desperately looking for a solution as well. Did you let your ENT do anything about the hole? And do you have an update about the mucus drainage? Hope you're feeling better!

I used a neti pot daily for while, but in the end it only seemed to worsen my post nasal drip.. Now experimenting with NAC supplements and anti histamine.

I am not sure if you are still apart of this group but your post is the only post I could find when googling EXACTLY what I’m going through. I had septoplasty hoping that would help but it has not gotten any better. Are you still having the same problem this many years later or have you found a solution?

...just curious and web search, have you bee checked for pneumonia

Quote; '.... symptoms of pneumonia include: a cough – which may be dry, or produce thick yellow, green, brown or blood-stained mucus (phlegm

...trying to help, hope you find out soon what the cause is, J.

@hsconz About 2 years ago, I had surgery for a deviated septum and adneoidectomy, in an effort to help the problem with drainage and scab formation in the nasopharnyx. They also cleared a bone spur at the top of my nose. During the adenoidectomy, they burned the area of infection and washed it with an antibiotic rinse. It seemed to help for a while, but a few months later, I had covid and it came back.
Although I am now able to breathe better / more freely after the surgery, I still have the drainage and scab formation. There are times where I can take out the scab on a daily basis. It is on the back of my throat, above my mouth and a little below my nose - I can reach it with my fingers and get it.
Before it dislodes, I wouldn't say it's painful, just annoying. I can definitely feel it as it's growing and it becomes uncomfortable as it's dislodging. I hate the feeling of it sliding down my throat, so that's why I take it out myself.
I went to the University of Chicago for my surgery and the doctor was stumped when he saw it and it seemed like a best educated guess for suggesting the surgery. They have since recommended an mri with dye, but from reading other's experiences here, they have not found answers with that so I haven't gone through with it. Their recommendation was for a scan of the front of the sinuses - I don't think that's it. I do have bad headaches behind my left eye (especially with the change in weather) where the drainage seems to get worse. I wonder if it could be associated with the sphenoid sinus?
My local ENT basically said he has no idea what to try next. They've prescribed all the antibiotics I can have to no avail (it is staph positive, although I hear many people are staph positive in their throat but with no symptoms, so I'm not sure that's the issue). I was thoroughly tested for allergies with no significant findings. Other than the drainage, my facial sinuses feel rather clear - there is no pressure or feeling they are full on the front of my face.
I've been following this chat board off an on for a few years and it's disheartening there are so many people dealing with this with no answer about what is causing it or how to effectively treat it.

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.

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

No, not at all.

@bfrank-

Sorry to hear you now have more issues with this.

Septoplasty/ bi lateral turbinate reduction seems a bit much and really are only done if someone has a confirmed breathing issues.

So now your drainage pathway has been altered/opened more, which will naturally cause bit more dryness due to the opening of those areas. This is why you now probably have more a day because it’s more dry in there now.

Did the ENT give a through explanation of what this recovery entails? These are only adjuncts to assist in the issue, and you are correct a “here and now” bandaid as you said for these issues.

Also-allergies aren’t the cause for everything in the nose, although that is a common ENT “catch all”. Dryness is the cause for a lot of mucous issues in the nose and can be solved with some diligent practices and environmental assessments.
Many people have small isolated dryer areas in their nose. It’s no reason to do anything bilateral or remove functioning parts.

Pre surgery-did you use a nasal rinse regularly with humidification and do you drink a lot of water and stay hydrated through other means like fruits and vegetables?

I should rephrase and say that I was feeling congested and had some sinus pressure; however, in general, I never felt that I had trouble breathing. Along with this mucous "plug" issue, I also had daily headaches. It all seemed to be residual from a nasty cold I had several months prior. My primary treated me several times for sinus infection prescribing antibiotics and nasal spray. The nasal spray gives me a screaming headache on contact, so I was never able to use it as prescribed. I was doing 2x/day saline rinses and using a humidifier both prior to surgery and have continued since surgery. With the exception of 1-2 cups of coffee in the morning, I drink only water and a lot of it. When the treatment that my primary was offering wasn't helping is when I was referred to the ENT dept. I had an MRI and found enlarged turbinates and a bone spur on my septum. So while I wasn't having breathing issues, the findings on the scan really drew me in to believe that this must be the cause of my constant hard mucous and headaches.

@bfrank- that is good clarification.

Did you get relief of headaches?

I was the same way when prescribed nasal spray. I could not tolerate it at all. Stinging, burning and dryness. This is typical of non allergic rhinitis.
Which simply means anything can cause irritation to the nasal cavity, but more exaggerated than the average person. If you naturally had a more sensitive nasal cavity, such as to smoke, scents, weather changes-the common cold can leave a longer lasting effect of subjective stuffiness.

How far out are you from the procedure and do you feel more dry than moisturized?

Do you know the type of turbinate procedure you had?
There are many, some causing issues more than others.