Brun mucus: causes and treatments

Mucus, a liquid in your higher respiratory system, is generally clear. But a number of health problems can brown. Also known as brown phlegm or expectorations, brown mucus can be due to a range of lifestyle choices, environmental factors and health problems.

Brun mucus is a response to irritation or inflammation in the lungs and contains dead cells, old blood, debris, tobacco or air pollutants.

A range of health factors and problems can lead to the formation of brown mucus, including the following elements.

1. smoke

When you smoke cigarettes or cigars, a sticky substance known as tar is accumulated in the lungs. As you cough from tar, it mixes with ordinary mucus, turning it brown. You can also form what is called a cough of the smoker, a persistent cough because of smoking, because your body works to expel the tar.

With brown mucus, smoking causes breathing difficulties, premature skin offensions and stained teeth and stained skin.

2. Air pollution and airborne toxins

The inhalation of pollutants and toxins, such as smoke and exhaust, can cause brown mucus.

Brun mucus can also develop due to the inhalation of certain toxins at work. For example, coal minors develop a black lung (pneumoconiosis), which is a serious pulmonary disease caused by coal dust.

3. Infections

Pulmonary infections of bacteria and viruses cause the mucus thickening and brown. Some infections that cause brown mucus include:

• Bacterial bronchitis: This bacterial pulmonary infection causes brown or yellow-green mucus. The other symptoms include chest discomfort, cough, fatigue, light fever, difficulty breathing and whistling breathing.
• Bacterial pneumonia: It is a serious complication of a bacterial infection where the tissues of the lungs become ignited. Dark brown mucus, yellow or tinged with red is a sign, as well as chills, fever, cough, respiratory problems, night sweats and thoracic pain.
• Viral infections: These are infections caused by viruses such as coronavirus, rhinovirus and influenza viruses (flu), which can cause respiratory symptoms, including coughs, congestion, fever, fatigue, chills and muscle ailments. The brown mucus often indicates a serious infection, coupled with pulmonary inflammation.
• Aspergillosis:: It is a fungal pulmonary infection and a complication of asthma which causes whistling attacks and difficulties in breathing. In addition to breathing difficulties, chest pain and fever, this condition causes increased production of thick brown mucus.

4. Chronic pulmonary diseases

The brown phlegm can accompany the chronic (durable) conditions affecting the lungs and the airways which transport air in and out of them. Chronic conditions with brown mucus as a symptom include:

• Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (MPOC): It is a set of diseases that restrict the air flow, causing an accumulation of mucus, breathing difficulties and a chronic cough. This condition is most often linked to smoking, but can also occur due to air pollution.
• Bronchitasis:: This condition often occurs in parallel with an injury or other pulmonary conditions, where the airways are damaged, enlarged and marked. An excess of brown or yellow mucus is a current symptom, as well as chronic cough, shortness of breath, whistling breathing, chest pain, fever and chills.
• Cystic fibrosis: This genetic disorder, passed in families, causes an accumulation of thick and sticky mucus in the lungs, the pancreas and other parts of the body. Other symptoms include coughing, fatigue, nausea, constipation, abdominal pain, gas and clay colored stools.

5. Pulmonary abscess

The pulmonary abscess are pockets of pus (thick, white or broken liquid) which form in the tissues. They are generally the result of an infection or an injury and are often formed due to the suction, inhaling bacteria or other particles of the mouth. Pulmonary abscess can also develop as a complication of cystic fibrosis and bronchi.

In addition to the brown mucus and a cough, the symptoms of a pulmonary abscess include:

6. Lung cancer

The crazy light, red, pink or brown mucus can be a sign of lung cancer. Although lung cancer is most often linked to smoking, people who do not smoke can also develop this disease.

Other symptoms of lung cancer include:

How much the brown phlegm can vary from person to person. In general, brown mucus is thicker and darker than ordinary mucus. It sometimes develops a rusty shade, the color being either uniform, or having darker spots.

As the brown mucus develops, it accumulates in the lungs and the respiratory tract and is either coupled or saved from the nose. With brown mucus, you will probably have a persistent productive (wet), which is your body’s attempt to get rid of excess phlegm. Sometimes mucus can have a strong foul smell.

You should talk to a health care provider if you have symptoms like brown mucus and a cough that do not disappear or do not worsen you.

Call your health care provider or request immediate precautions if you feel:

• Persistent or recurrent cough
• Fate, thick, yellow-green mucus
• Blood, coughing
• High fever, chills
• Low grade fever for three days or more
• Fatigue
• Unexplained weight loss
• Shortness of breath or difficulty breathing

Health care providers can deal with many conditions that cause brown mucus. In more serious cases, they can refer to a pulmonologist (lung specialist) or an oncologist (cancer specialist) for diagnosis or treatment.

What to expect

In addition to checking your medical history and doing a physical exam, a health care provider can carry out tests when diagnosing the conditions due to brown mucus.

These tests may include:

• Analysis of expectorations of pulmonary culture: Clinical examination where a health care provider tests a sample of your mucus
• Pulse oximetry: Test that measures your blood oxygen levels
• Pulmonary function test: Measure breathing and to what extent the lungs work
• Sweat chloride test: Check if you have high salt levels in your sweat (usually made for people with cystic fibrosis)
• Stool samples: You collect a sample of your stool (poop) and send it to test
• Imaging: Can include icoracic x-rays, computed tomography (CT) and scans of the upper and lower gastrointestinal series (GI)

When you have brown mucus, the main objective is to eliminate it from the body. As a rule, the symptom is resolved when you approach the underlying cause of the problem. Home remedies are often sufficient for minor infections. Health care providers use more extensive drugs and therapies for serious conditions, such as bacterial pneumonia, MPOC or lung cancer.

Home remedies

Home remedies can manage more minor infections causing brown mucus.

You can treat brown mucus due to minor infections if you:

• Make sure to rest sufficiently, to stay at the Maison du Travail or the School to recover
• Drink a lot of water and other liquids
• Use your inhaler if you suffer from asthma or another pulmonary condition
• Use a humidifier to increase humidity in the air and loosen the phlegm
• Stop or avoid smoking and try to avoid used smoke

Drugs

Several over -the -counter and prescribed options can help relieve congestion and thick mucus.

Some options include:

• Spending forces, such as mucinx (guaifensine), which erases mucus from the airways
• Nasal rinsing with a saline solution that eliminates sinuses and break mucus
• Decongestant drugs, such as Advil (ibuprofen and pseudoephedrine) or Tylenol sinus (acetaminophen and guaifen)
• Antihistamines such as claritine (loratadine) or benadryl (Diphenhydramine chlorhydrate) for allergies symptoms
• Mucolytic prescribed – Mince mucus medications, such as mucomyst (n -acetylcysteine) or pulmozyme (dornase alfa)
• Enzymatic treatment of DNASE, therapy used to decompose the accumulation of mucus
• Highly concentrated salt solutions (hypertonic saline solution), which are prescribed to clean the mucus

Depending on the cause of brown mucus, there may be ways to prevent the condition or prevent it from returning. Prevention largely involves taking measures to protect the lungs.

You can prevent or reduce your risk of brown mucus if you:

• Stop smoking and try to avoid used smoke
• Wear masks to protect yourself from toxins or pollutants at work
• Try to avoid or minimize your exposure to air pollution, smoke or exhaust
• Wash your hands regularly to avoid infection
• Eat a well -balanced diet rich in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains and protein
• Stay hydrated
• Stay physically active, because the exercise can loosen the mucus in the lungs
• Sleep enough (seven to eight hours a night for adults)
• Maintain good oral hygiene

If your brown mucus is due to more serious disease such as pulmonary infections or cystic fibrosis which is not addressed, you can develop complications, such as:

• Pneumonia: A serious complication of a bacterial or viral infection. The risk is the highest for people with a weakened immune system, infants under 2 years of age, adults over 65 or people with chronic disease such as asthma. Good hygiene, following vaccinations, healthy diet and exercise can help prevent infections from developing in pneumonia.
• Pneumothorax: Also known as the collapsed lung, this condition occurs when the lungs cannot develop enough, which has an impact on the level of oxygen in the blood. Large and thin people are at risk of this potentially serious complication of chronic pulmonary diseases. There is no way to prevent pneumothorax, but avoiding smoking and exercising can help manage this condition.
• Respiratory failure: This is an inability of the lungs to produce enough oxygen caused by prolonged pulmonary conditions. Stop smoking, minimizing or avoiding alcohol consumption, keeping a healthy weight and practicing good hygiene can help prevent this severe condition.

Brun mucus is generally a sign of inflammation or infection in the lungs. Current causes of brown phlegm include smoking, exposure to toxins or air pollutants, cystic fibrosis and bacterial pulmonary infections.

The treatments for brown mucus depend on the underlying cause. They range from lifestyle changes and house remedies to over -the -counter medicines and prescription.