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

I have been dealing with the mucous scab in my throat since shortly after recovering from covid in Nov 2023 or so.... but it is off and on. I did see an NP in April 2024 who gave me antibiotics and a steroid pack. He said if it continued, I should see an ENT. It returned 1 or 2 times after that ...and then again now. With this round it's been about 3 scabs in about 10 days or so. I could feel I was getting a cold about 2-3 weeks ago (body aches and throat soreness and wanted to nip it in the bud quickly because I had to work trip coming up so I gargled with salt water and did the Airborne and the zinc lozenge and all the things. And I basically nipped it in the bud except in the past week or so I've had two or three scab mucus deals coming out of my throat (which doesn't hurt anymore by the way. There is no pain associated with the weird scab issue for me. It is crazy how firmly it seems attached to my throat and how thick and firm they are but also mucousy and mostly darkish brown - and always from the same spot it feels like. I haven't seen an ENT doctor about it yet but I'm about to start looking into it. The the one that came off last night while I was sleeping and woke me up was bigger than the rest I've had so far. Did you get to the bottom of your issue yet? I do not think I have reflux by the way. It generally seems to be something that lingers after a cold for me.

This will be a low probability I think, but could this be any way related to one of HPV oropharyngeal cancers?

We shouldn't be forming scabs in our throats. End of.

I don't think is it but ENTs can't figure it out? I think the reason is because the reality is, mostly all of us are suffering from botched surgeries

Every one of you. Go get bloodwork to check your iron. I’ve never been anemic but regularly low iron (heavy menses) and I only recently made the connection that these gluey/sticky coated, hard, cup-shaped scabs only occur when my ferritin levels are low or on the low end of normal

I’m on SlowFe every other day and I now force myself a weekly meal of liver or oysters/clams to make sure I’m getting all the cofactors I need. Suffered through most of my twenties up through my 40s because I didn’t make the connection sooner.

TBF, rebuilding iron stores can be a long and slow process - so often times by the time my scabs stopped forming, it didn’t seem as though I had introduced anything new to my routine. When I have optimal iron stores, my mucus turns thin, clear and slippery and the hard, glue coated scabs, stop forming on their own.

heading to first ENT appt tmrw. This reply gave me the final nudge when I got another scab thingy come loose today...

Yes, I used to dislodge these kinds of scabs once every few months, but the frequency has increased, and now I am coughing them up daily, as well. They are not from the throat, they come from the adenoidal spaces behind the nasal passage before it heads down to the uvula. They are certainly not pleasant as you have to snort them down to dislodge them and then cough them up to get rid of them. I find it hard to believe that no doctor I have been to thinks these are serious or has offered any constructive plan to deal with them. The hacking and coughing required to deal with them is intrusive, embarrassing and often scary.

Still ongoing for 18 / 19 years

Based on comment from MsMolly regarding iron, decided to give it a try. I’ve added a weekly meal of liver and onions, and increased iron rich vegetables, seafood, and supplements. I know this will take a while, but I will keep you posted if I see any improvement over the next few months.

@lolapurdy

I haven't heard of scabs like these being a symptom of insufficient iron, but whatever the case, before supplementing iron, remember to do a blood test for iron levels, because too much iron is also a bad thing (organ damage, etc).

In my case the scabs which lasted for maybe 2 months in the winter were most likely post nasal drip caused by dry air which I resolved with a humidifier and Ayr nasal gel. My iron levels in a blood test at the time were normal. That being said, it seems like this mega thread is a conglomerate for many people with similar symptoms but different causes.

Did you by chance have a sinus surgery of any kind?

The only surgery I had in that area was removal of tonsils and adenoids at the age of four.