Phlegm

[ALUK_Nurses]

Gross as it looks phlegm and mucus protect your body from infection

Mucus is a jelly-like liquid found all over the body that protects you from infection

Mucus is produced in the walls of the small airways to help keep your lungs clean and well lubricated. It is moved by tiny hairs called cilia that line your airways. They move back and forth sweeping a thin layer of mucus out of your lungs and into your throat. Unwanted materials stick to the mucus. When it reaches the throat, it’s usually swallowed without you realising. blf.org.uk/support-for-you/...

Some people with asthma find they cough up lots of phlegm, and the type and colour of your phlegm might suggest different things. Check our website to find our advice 👉 asthma.org.uk/advice/unders...

[twinkly29]

Ooh thanks for this! So many people think green phlegm = needs antibiotics and so often it doesn't as infections can very often be viral.

[Hidden]

But alot of phlegm for many years also decrease lung function overtime i guess

[bess7771]

phlegm does not protect the body from infection....dispel this idea......phlegm is a damned nuisance and has no value whatsoever! except that it needs to be got rid of and its cause investigated.

[EmmaF91 Community Ambassador in reply to bess7771]

Phlegm is a protective mechanism against infection. Normally it’s produced in the lungs in response to an irritant/foreign body like dust etc. The stickiness means the irritant (whatever it is) attaches to the mucus and is then coughed out of the lungs a lot more easily. It’s why bacterial infections are often (but not always) more likely to produce more mucus of whatever colour than viral (in a normal person) - there is something physically in the lungs the body is trying to get rid of. To the brain any foreign body in the lungs brings with it a risk of infection, so the body works hard to get rid of it as soon as possible. (This is also why people get runny noses in dusty etc environments - the body is producing ‘nasal mucus’ to catch the particles before they get into your lungs).

In asthma over we over produce mucus. Our lungs can inflame for little/no reason and our brain interprets this as a irritant/foreign body that needs to be expected so it produces a lot more (unnecessary) phlegm. We can respond with excessive mucus to even the mildest cold. Because of this it’s normally a change in mucus that is concerning, not just the colour. When my asthma flares, my gunk is always yellow however some docs will that that means I have an infection, but it’s just normal for me and just an indicator that my lungs are irritated and need sorting (I tend to get ‘asthmatic bronchitis’ when I become less controlled)😅.

So I completely agree that producing mucus needs to be investigated and the root cause needs to be treated, however fundamentally phlegm is a protective mechanism against infection - it’s just with asthma (and most other resp conditions) our bodies don’t work well so our lungs go into overdrive for little/no reason 😅

Hope this makes sense

[bess7771 in reply to EmmaF91]

phlegmis a no no, nasty, a sign the poor old lungs are in trouble. Infection, or chronic irritation (eg smoking), or the immune sytem responding or over-responding to some irritant from the environment that that particular persons system doesnt like ie cytokine response. To view or tell people that mucus is a protection against infection is crazy. Mucus needs investigating. In fact mucus collection leads to infection, because it makles a nice warm wet environment for bugs to breed, be it viral or bacteria or viral leading to secondary bacterial infection. People seem to get such cocked-up ideas. Its fascinating sometimes.

[ALUK_Nurses Partner Administrator ALUK Asthma Nurse in reply to bess7771]

Hi bess7771, thanks for your comments, I have updated the post and hopefully this better represents the point we were trying to make 👍

[Hidden in reply to bess7771]

The role of mucins (there are 2 types that form what we call mucus in our respiratory tract, one is always present in saliva etc and the other is formed in response to perceived threats and this is the one we talk about with asthma and illness) are to protect epithelial tissue, which in turn protects us from infection.

[bess7771 in reply to Hidden]

yes well the natural muscus that covers various surfaces in the body sure has its purpose but it isnt the one being discussed here and wd never produce a chronic distressing productive cough or phlegm, that is being talked about here. To say to a troubled person who may not be educated and is prone to believing rubbish, and who presents in distress with a productive cough, that mucus or phelgm has a protective function which implies that it may be normal, is not good at all. That person needs investigation, or may need to desist in some behaviour. Natural clear normal mucus shd never enter the discussion with such a person. I get so tired of hearing stuff that is told to asthmatics by both doctors and nurses who are not asthamtics themselves. Sometimes I think that part of being an advisor to asthmatics shd be a life-long affliction with chronic disabling asthma.!! ( but i know that aint gona happen lol) One hears such rubbish, from both doctors and nurses, well-meaning I guess, both about the condition itself and about the drugs ( especially the plethora of preventers which keep coming onto the market), and about surveys and research. When i occasionally read the astham stuff on here from various sufferers, i cringe. I have tried to get out of this , unsubscribe, but it doesnt seem to work! sigh.........

[Hanna222]

What about foamy/frothy phlegm?

[ALUK_Nurses Partner Administrator ALUK Asthma Nurse in reply to Hanna222]

This could be a sign of another health condition and should be discussed with your GP 👍