Misconception #9: Color of Mucus Determines if you Need Antibiotics...

With all the weather changes nowadays, I've had this case of a bad cold for the last few days that just doesn't want to leave!

And yes, it involves the Gooey stuff - Nasty Mucus. YUCK! (Come on guys, this is science lol)

Now the prominent advise was to monitor the mucus for color changes; particularly if it turns to green, this means you would need antibiotics and you have a bacterial infection.

Recently I've heard this might not be a fact after all, so I rolled my sleeves up, put on my researcher hat, sneezed, coughed, and dug in!

What is Mucus?

Mucus is actually our friendly protector - Good guy ! Mucus' essential purpose is to protect our airways from germs and other particles, while also moisturizing the nose and the throat.
We constantly have mucus, yet we do not sense its presence due to it being thin and easily moving down the throat.
A normal human produces around 0.5 liters (up to 1.5 liters in other studies) of mucus on a daily basis.
It is essentially produced in mucus glands in the nose and sinuses, and consists of:

95% water
3% proteins
and 1% salt and other substances

With cold and similar conditions, mucus production increases, so does its thickness, and at times its color. The cilia won't be able to perform the proper job of getting rid of the mucus, and hence causes all the symptoms aggravation and nuisance.

The Myth With Green Mucus

The myth of bacterial infection, and hence needing antibiotics, is often associated with green mucus. People tend to think of bacterial infection when they spot the green stuff, while it can still be a viral infection.
The green color is attributed to white blood cells and enzymes containing iron, and which are produced to repel the infection, regardless of what it is. Green and yellowish colors are also mostly prevalent in the morning, as the mucus would have sat around for a long time.
Several studies were actually conducted on identifying symptoms for the relevant type of infection, and mucus color was definitely not one of those factors.

Even some Drs still prescribe according to that misconception!! According to ENT consultant Jonathan Hern,

"This is a common misconception for patients and indeed for doctors, who might prescribe antibiotics if the patient's got very green, viscous mucus."
With bacterial sinusitis, more often than not, the discharge is white.

Other studies even reported that some GPs (General Practitioners) were 3 times more likely to prescribe antibiotics to patients with green mucus, while conclusions from studies are clear:

Sputum colour, alone or together with feeling generally unwell, was not associated with recovery or benefit from antibiotic treatment.

And eventually, treating viral infections with antibiotics, has no positive effect, on the contrary, might cause more harm than help.

So, basically conclusion is clear. Color of mucus has no indication on what infection you have. Your safest bet, if things are not moving well, is to check with your ENT.

Final Advise: please do not take antibiotics just for the sake of it, as you might be doing more harm than well, not only to yourself, but in our battle against bacteria!

Thank you for reading through, and hope this turned out as helpful as anticipated!

@mcfarhat

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Misconception #9: Color of Mucus Determines if you Need Antibiotics (And Some Drs Still Believe It)

What is Mucus?

The Myth With Green Mucus

Prior Posts:

My posts aim to be contribute to the following projects: