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Nasal Mucus--How It Can Cause Nasal and Sinus Infection

The yucky stuff coming from the nose or dripping in the back of your throat had, heretofore, been considered a sign or symptom of some sinus problems. Recent research has shown that it is not only a symptom, but it can also be the cause of many sinus disorders such as:

• sneezing
• congestion
• itchy, red eyes
• constant coughing
• ringing and buzzing in the ears
• sinus pressure
• runny nose, etc.

Fungus causes nasal membrane infection
For many years the medical establishment had assumed that nasal and sinus problems were caused by bacteria and fungi present in the body's tissue. Yet this assumption has proven to be wrong. As it turned out it is the bacteria and fungi that is in the mucus itself that is responsible for the sinus miseries listed in the previous paragraph. More specifically, no other than researchers at The Mayo Clinic have identified the specific cause of chronic sinusitis--an inflammation of the nose and sinus cavity that can cause post nasal drip. They discovered that the real culprit of that disorder is a fungus lining the nose cavity and that infects the mucus there, which can spread to the sinus cavities and other parts of the upper respiratory apparatus. . This fungus organism has been specifically identified.

Excessive mucus production
It should be remember that the body produces one to two pints of mucus a day. We do not notice it because it flows smoothly out of the body. Healthy mucus acts like a broom sweeping the nasal and sinus passages clean of invaders--viruses, bacteria, foreign particles, germs, etc.--that would otherwise infect the sinus and nasal passages. When mucus production, however, gets out of control due to:

• common cold
• flu
• allergies
• swelling sinuses
• nasal or sinus polyps
• air pollution
• rhinitis

Then mucus gets trapped in the para nasal sinus cavities in large quantity becomes post nasal drip or sinus drainage, as commonly called. The only way out is down the back of the throat. Often, due to a person's low intake of fluids, the mucus gets thick and it begins to tickle the back of the throat producing constant coughing. Now that it has been discovered that the bacteria in the mucus is the real culprit in many sinus disorders, there abounds in the market today medications that claim to eradicate this fungus in the nasal membrane and therefore alleviate most sinus disorders.

Nasal membrane surgery caveat
As a result of this research finding it has become obvious that probably many surgeries done in the past to eradicate infected nasal membranes were unnecessary and in fact counterproductive--since it was not the nasal membrane the cause of the infection, but the mucus therein, as already explained. This should send a strong caveat to those who were contemplating nasal membrane surgery; except, of course, in cases of cancer in that membrane which is very rare.