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What Causes Blood In Phlegm?
Question: I've had blood in phlegm the past couple mornings. I work in a very dusty environment daily for 35 years. I was working with walnut on friday without a dust mask. Could they be related?
Brief Answer:
dust can worsen air way inflammation and cause blood tinged mucus
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Yes, the blood can definitely be related to the dust that you are exposed to,especially if there is a history of allergy symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, runny nose, itching/rash, post nasal drip of mucus.
If there is a history of long term smoking, more serious causes would need ruled out if it continues.
The dust can irritate or aggravate the air way allergies and cause inflammation of the lining of the airways.
This inflammation of these surfaces can cause bleeding to occur, mixed with mucus.
You can consider using antihistamine, decongestant combination (even if not congested), to see if this helps. It can sometimes take a week to 2 weeks for an effect in some persons.
Eg of these medications- zyrtec d, allegra d, claritine d, benadry d
Some individuals also use a nasal spray as well eg nasonex, nasocort, flonase, rhinocort.
If the bleeding worsens or does not improve, or there is a history of long term smoking then you should consider seeing an ENT doctor for assessment.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
dust can worsen air way inflammation and cause blood tinged mucus
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Yes, the blood can definitely be related to the dust that you are exposed to,especially if there is a history of allergy symptoms such as coughing, sneezing, runny nose, itching/rash, post nasal drip of mucus.
If there is a history of long term smoking, more serious causes would need ruled out if it continues.
The dust can irritate or aggravate the air way allergies and cause inflammation of the lining of the airways.
This inflammation of these surfaces can cause bleeding to occur, mixed with mucus.
You can consider using antihistamine, decongestant combination (even if not congested), to see if this helps. It can sometimes take a week to 2 weeks for an effect in some persons.
Eg of these medications- zyrtec d, allegra d, claritine d, benadry d
Some individuals also use a nasal spray as well eg nasonex, nasocort, flonase, rhinocort.
If the bleeding worsens or does not improve, or there is a history of long term smoking then you should consider seeing an ENT doctor for assessment.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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