When nervous or under stress, throat muscles can trigger spasms that make it feel as if there is a lump in the throat.Coughing and vigorous throat clearing are often needed upon waking. During sleep, swallowing occurs much less frequently, and secretions may gather.With age, swallowing muscles often lose strength and coordination, making it difficult for even normal secretions to pass smoothly into the stomach.
Several factors contribute to swallowing problems: When the nerves and muscles in the mouth, throat, and food passage (esophagus) aren’t interacting properly, overflow secretions can spill into the voice box (larynx) and breathing passages (trachea and bronchi), causing hoarseness, throat clearing, or coughing. Swallowing problems may result in accumulation of solids or liquids in the throat that may complicate or feel like post-nasal drip. If these symptoms are observed, seek a physician for examination. In children, thick secretions from one side of the nose can mean that something is stuck in the nose such as a bean, wadded paper, or piece of toy. If thin secretions become thick, and turn green or yellow, it is likely that a bacterial sinus infection is developing. They can also result from sinus or nose infections and allergies, especially to foods such as dairy products. Increased thick secretions in the winter often result from dryness in heated buildings and homes. These abnormalities might include a deviated or irregular nasal septum (the cartilage and bony dividing wall that separates the two nostrils). Various drugs (including birth control pills and high blood pressure medications) and structural abnormalities can also produce increased secretions. Increased thin clear secretions can be due to colds and flu, allergies, cold temperatures, bright lights, certain foods/spices, pregnancy, and other hormonal changes. What causes abnormal secretions? Thin secretions: This sensation can be caused by excessively thick secretions or by throat muscle and swallowing disorders. Although it is normally swallowed unconsciously, the feeling of it accumulating in the throat or dripping from the back of your nose is called post-nasal drip. Mucus moistens and cleans the nasal membranes, humidifies air, traps and clears inhaled foreign matter, and fights infection. “One difference is sinusitis tends to take longer, around 10 days, to develop into a bacterial infection, while COVID-19 will come on more quickly.Glands in your nose and throat continually produce mucus (one to two quarts a day). “During those months, people spend more time inside with allergens,” Melinda said. The trapped mucus can allow bacteria to grow, which leads to an infection, Cooling said.Īlthough you can get sinusitis year around, it tends to accompany the cold and influenza seasons during the fall and winter months.
COVID-19Ī sinus infection, or sinusitis, occurs when the air-filled pockets in the face, called sinuses, fill up with fluid, inflaming the sinus lining and preventing them from draining. “While both can cause fever, headache, nasal congestion and sore throat, there are some differences between the two,” said Melinda Cooling, vice president of Advanced Practice for OSF HealthCare and chief clinician executive for OSF OnCall. These issues are compounded when we spend long hours indoors due to the weather or quarantines.
Overlapping symptoms can make it difficult to determine if you have a sinus infection (sinusitis) or COVID-19.
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