Thick Rubbery Mucus From Nose: Causes and Treatments
Published July 17, 2023
A thick rubbery mucus from nose is usually a sign that there’s something wrong with your body’s mucus production process. But is it something to worry about? Not necessarily. Although, there are cases where you may need more than just home remedies.
What Can Your Mucus Tell About Your Health?
Here’s a fun fact: your body produces more than one to two liters of nasal mucus daily, draining to your throat. Gross? A little bit, but nasal mucus plays an integral role in keeping your body healthy. They help keep away dust, dirt, bacteria, and other irritants out of your lungs.
This type of mucus is produced by the mucous membranes that line your nose and sinuses. If your mucous membranes have enough moisture, they produce clear runny mucus. But when something in your environment throws off this process, your body goes into overdrive, producing excess mucus. This excess mucus production dries out your mucous membranes, causing the mucus to become thick and rubbery.
When this happens, you could have thick sticky mucus stuck between your nose and throat, causing chronic cough with hard phlegm chunks.
The state of these fluids and secretions is also a telltale sign of our nasal health.
A mucus that’s clear and runny indicates that everything is working smoothly in your sinuses. But once infection sets in, your nasal membranes produce thick white mucus. When that white mucus turns into a thick yellow snot with a green tinge, it means that your body is fighting an infection. More serious infections tend to produce darker-colored mucus, sometimes with a hint of blood.
In general, however, thick and rubbery nasal mucus tends to clear on its own without needing medication. But if you’ve been blowing fleshy chunks out of your nose or spewing out hard phlegm chunks for days, you may need to seek medical help.
What Causes Thick Rubbery Mucus?
As mentioned, the body’s natural process includes producing mucus. But certain factors can cause your nasal mucus to become hard, thick, and rubbery, such as:
1. Dry environment
A dry environment refers most especially to air quality. Dry air, such as the one in winter, dries out your sinuses. With less moisture in the air, your mucous membranes will go into overdrive, producing thick sticky mucus.
When the air is too dry, you may also experience other symptoms like:
- sore throat
- dry skin or dermatitis
- dehydration
- nosebleed
- irritated eyes
2. Common cold
If you have recurring sinus issues, you’ll know that a slight trigger, like a common cold, can bring a viral infection. Your body’s response to bacterial and viral infections is to overproduce mucus in hopes of flushing out the cause of the infection. And as you know by now, excess mucus can harden your nasal discharge.
If your thick nasal mucus is due to common cold, some of the symptoms to watch out for are:
- runny nose
- sneezing
- nasal congestion
- coughing
- sore throat
- post-nasal drip
3. Lung diseases
Certain lung diseases also cause mucus to thicken and block airways. These lung diseases include bronchitis, cystic fibrosis, and pneumonia, among others. Most, if not all, lung diseases are closely associated with thickened mucus.
In bronchitis, a common experience among patients is coughing up thickened mucus, which can typically appear discolored. While cystic fibrosis can cause recurring chest infections, shortness of breath, and diarrhea.
4. Fungal rhinosinusitis
As the name suggests, fungal rhinosinusitis or fungal sinusitis is a type of fungal infection in the sinuses. This is common in people suffering from auto-immune diseases like diabetes and leukemia, especially if they’re living in warm, humid climates.
Fungal sinusitis happens when you inhale fungal organisms, and they are deposited in your sinus cavities. Since these cavities are dark and moist, it provides an ideal environment for the fungus to breed, causing your sinus to get inflamed.
Symptoms of fungal rhinosinusitis include:
- fever
- nasal inflammation
- decreased sense of smell
- nasal congestion
- sinus headache
- pain and tenderness in the cheek and forehead area
Fungal sinus infections also come in two types: invasive and non-invasive. Fungal rhinosinusitis belongs to the latter as it only affects the areas around the nose and sinuses.
5. Allergies
Allergies are caused by allergens, which are external irritants. Your body overproduces mucus to flush them out, much like it would during bacterial and viral infections. This is why people suffering from allergic rhinitis and asthma often have to contend with excess mucus production.
Thick nasal mucus caused by allergic reactions is often accompanied by:
- red, watery, swollen eyes
- runny nose
- hives or rashes
- swelling of the lips, face, tongue, and throat
- shortness of breath
- itchy skin
6. Dehydration
If your body isn’t sufficiently hydrated, it will also show in the quality of your mucus. The mucous membrane needs adequate moisture to produce clear and runny mucus. Diuretics, coffee and alcohol, strenuous exercise, excessive sweating, and certain medications can lead to dehydration.
Aside from thick nasal mucus, dehydration can also cause:
- excessive thirst
- tiredness and dizziness
- dark, yellow, and strong-smelling pee
- sunken eyes
- dry mouth
7. Smoking
When you smoke, the mucus-producing cells in your lungs and airways grow in size. This, in turn, causes thick rubbery mucus. Since your lungs cannot clean out the excess mucus on their own, the mucus stays in your airways, leading to dry cough and hard phlegm chunks.
Previous studies on rats have also shown that cigarette smoking leads to the overproduction of mucus cells in the large and small airways. While a 2016 study found that oversecretion of mucus is common among middle-aged smokers.
8. Nasal polyps
Nasal polyps are growths that line the inside of your sinus cavities. Instead of draining properly, the excess mucus gets trapped in these growths. This causes mucus buildup leading to thick rubbery nasal discharge as well as:
- postnasal drip
- snoring
- stuffy nose
- reduced sense of smell and taste
How to Get Rid of Thick Rubbery Mucus From Nose
Depending on the underlying cause, nasal congestion due to thick and rubbery mucus clears away on its own without needing medical intervention. But if it starts becoming a problem, making breathing difficult and causing discomfort, here are some possible ways to treat it:
Home Remedies
If your condition doesn’t require medications, here are some home remedies you can take and apply daily to reduce and prevent thick and rubbery mucus.
- Humidifiers: Dry air is your enemy, so the logical solution is to use humidifiers to ensure your mucous membranes are sufficiently moisturized.
- Drink more water: With dehydration leading to excess mucus production, you’ll want to stay adequately hydrated. Make it a habit to drink plenty of water every day. Around 8-10 cups is a good start, and you should reduce your intake of diuretics.
- Respiratory health-boosting ingredients: We recommend drinking and eating foods containing lemon, ginger, and garlic. Spicy foods containing capsaicin may also help relieve sinuses and keep mucus flowing.
- Gargle salt water: Gargling a warm water solution with salt helps relieve mucus at the back of the throat and helps kill germs that could cause infection. Salt also has anti-inflammatory properties that relieve swelling and restore normal mucus production.
- Steam inhalation. The heat from the steam softens the hardened mucus. This makes them easier to expel from your body.
- Quit smoking: If you’re a chronic smoker, you’ll want to stop it. Smoking puts you at significant risk of poor lung health and may even lead to lung cancer. Besides the long-term effects, it could also have several short-term side effects, such as excess mucus. Research also shows that mucus production usually returns to normal after someone quits smoking.
- Nasal Irrigations: Also known as sinus flush, nasal irrigation uses saline or saltwater to irrigate the nasal passages. Salt is a natural antiseptic, and it also has anti-inflammatory properties. When used to irrigate the sinuses, it can flush out allergens, excess mucus, bacteria, and other debris. It can help moisten your mucous membranes too. Most people use a neti pot to rinse their nasal passages. But you can also use squeeze bottles or even saline nasal sprays.
- Wear a respirator mask. This is for people struggling with severe allergies like allergic rhinitis and asthma. Since pollen and other allergens can easily trigger asthma or rhinitis attacks, wearing a mask that can filter these allergens is important.
Over-the-counter and Prescription Medication
- Over-the-counter (OTC) Medications: There are lots of over-the-counter medications that can help clear thick nasal mucus. You can try using decongestants to open up your airways and soothe inflammation. They usually come in the form of tablets, syrups, and flavored powders. Expectorants, such as guaifenesin (Mucinex and Robitussin), can also help thin out mucus and clear your throat and chest. If the excess mucus is caused by allergies, you may take an antihistamine.
- Prescription medicines: OTC medicines may not work in severe medical conditions like chronic catarrh and other lung diseases. In such cases, your doctor will prescribe medications to thin out the mucus. Mucus thinners, such as mucolytics, are inhaled medications capable of thinning out mucus in the airways so that they can be coughed out. Depending on the underlying causes, your doctor may also prescribe medications to provide permanent relief.
Surgery
If your excess mucus is caused by certain sinus issues like fungal rhinosinusitis and nasal polyps, your doctor may recommend surgery. But this is usually for severe cases.
For fungal sinusitis, your doctor may perform traditional or minimally invasive endoscopic surgery, depending on the type of infection. This will involve inserting a flexible tube with a camera into your nose to remove the fungus and dead cells stuck inside your sinus.
Nasal polyps, on the other hand, are removed through nasal polypectomy. This type of surgery removes the polyps or growths lining the inside of your sinuses. Depending on where your polyps are, the surgery may last a few hours. But most patients can go home on the same day as the surgery.
When to See a Doctor
As mentioned, thick rubbery mucus usually clears on its own after a few days. But if home remedies don’t work or you’re experiencing breathing difficulties, dizziness, or other symptoms that indicate an emergency, you should go and see a doctor.
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About The Author
Judy Ponio is a professional writer based in the Philippines. Her commitment to communicating factual content in when writing is unmatched. She works hard to cross check reputable sources to ensure her work uses accurate facts.
