HELLO EVERYONE for the past month, I’ve been waking up each morning with a significant amount of irritating mucus in my throat that I need to clear. To my surprise, it’s brown—almost dark brown! It’s only in the mornings. Throughout the day, I also have a lot of clear mucus, and occasionally I experience mild ear pain, which has been happening for about two months. I’ve seen an ENT three times; they scoped my throat through my nose and said everything looks normal, and my ears appeared fine as well. I’m really puzzled and concerned about what could be causing this. Brown mucus doesn’t seem normal to me, so I’m worried something might be seriously wrong. Has anyone else experienced anything similar?
Hi Liam! I can understand your concern about the brown mucus and ear pain. The brown color could be from post-nasal drip, where mucus from your sinuses mixes with particles like dust overnight. This could be caused by allergies, sinus issues, or environmental factors (like air quality or irritants). The ear pain might also be related to sinus congestion or fluid buildup.
Since you’ve already seen an ENT and had a scope, it might be helpful to see an allergist to check for underlying allergies. In the meantime, using a saline nasal spray or neti pot could help clear your sinuses, and a humidifier at night might reduce irritation.
If symptoms persist, further tests or imaging could be worth considering. Hopefully, this helps! Anyone else had similar issues?