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Pink: Mucus can turn pink after an injury to the nose when it gets streaked with blood. It can also be a sign your nasal passages are so dry that tiny blood vessels that line them have burst and ...
Phlegm can exist in different colors. The color could provide important clues about a person's health. [1] Yellow or green: Indicates an infection often by a virus or bacteria. The color is caused by an enzyme produced by the white blood cells combating the infection. Clear: Indicates allergies. Mucous membranes produce histamines and make more ...
Yellowish mucus typically means that your white blood cells are "fighting off an illness or infection," says Nasseri. "Most commonly this is linked to the common cold and will likely clear on its own.
In general, nasal mucus is clear and thin, serving to filter air during inhalation. During times of infection, mucus can change color to yellow or green either as a result of trapped bacteria [24] or due to the body's reaction to viral infection. For example, Staphylococcus aureus infection may turn the mucus yellow. [25]
Blood-laced mucus from the sinus or nose area can sometimes be misidentified as symptomatic of hemoptysis (such secretions can be a sign of nasal or sinus cancer, but also a sinus infection). Extensive non-respiratory injury can also cause one to cough up blood.
Mucus has trillions of microbes and is a first line of defense against microorganisms that cause infections, the NIH says. "Mucus is very helpful in terms of our immune system," Elliott says.
Having green, yellow, or thickened phlegm (sputum) does not always indicate the presence of an infection. Also, if an infection is present, the color of the phlegm (sputum) does not determine whether a virus, a bacterium or another pathogen has caused it. Simple allergies can also cause changes in the color of the mucus. [1]
Mucopurulent discharge is the emission or secretion of fluid containing mucus and pus (muco-pertaining to mucus and purulent pertaining to pus) from the eye, nose, cervix, vagina or other part of the body due to infection and inflammation. Types include: