Edit: I had someone comment one time when I did, and it was kind of weird and embarrassing? But it seemed like a fairly normal thing to do, so I thought I’d ask.

  • qyron
    22•4 months ago

    Yes. And we always should. The colour of what is coming out can hint how far/how bad you might be on a cold, as well as the consistency. Knowing if you’re losing blood or clots is also important.

      • qyron
        4•4 months ago

        The following can be filed under the “too much information”.

        My airways act very weird when I get a cold or something is afecting my air ways. My nose tends to feel clogged but I have nothing to discharge, even if I feel the need to. I often have to force ouy whatever there may be backed up in there, often to the point I get light headed and/or dizzy. The first wave is usually clear and very low in volume. The second wave often brings out a deluge of yellow greenish mucus (good sign) or a blob of green greyish stuff, often with blood spots or small strikes (very bad). The third wave makes my ear pop and causes me to start coughing and pull up more gunk that then start to flow without the need for me to try to blow my spine from my back.

        • @CommissarVulpin@lemmy.world
          1•4 months ago

          Sounds like there might be a problem with your sinuses.

          My own sinuses are kind of messed up, and they get inflamed and swell up as soon as I get a cold which makes me stuffed up even if there’s no mucus. But all the mucus I do get doesn’t drain properly, so I have to obsessively blow my nose every 10 minutes or else it just gets packed up inside and I get a sinus infection. I also pay close attention to the color; clear or pale yellow is good, green is getting concerning, and brown means sound the alarm, sinus infection is imminent.

          Have you tried a neti pot? It works well to help irrigate my sinuses without feeling like I’m trying to force my brains out onto the tissue.

          • qyron
            1•4 months ago

            When things get dire, I use vapor with some mint or eucaplitus oil added to the boilling water. It tends to ease things.

  • southsamurai
    10•4 months ago

    Yeah, kinda helpful in monitoring health.

    You won’t find anything unusual 99% of the time, and usually not even when you add .9 with a bunch of extra 9s behind that. But when you do find something, it means you can be proactive in handling it.

    Not that everything shows up in mucous that can be wrong with your sinuses, or that things can’t ramp up faster than you can detect a change.

    But it’s still useful to check.

    • @BeMoreCareful@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4•4 months ago

      If it’s yellow you got some sinusitis, probably need some Sudafed (behind the counter kind) and some neti pot. If it’s green, you may have to go to the Dr to get some antibiotics. If it’s red, you probably need a humidifier and/or some saline mist.

  • kingthrillgore
    10•4 months ago

    Yes. Excess of green or yellow mucus could be indicative of strep throat or a cold. If there’s bleeding, that’s a sign of worse.

    • arsCynic
      2•4 months ago

      Blood is most likely just a minor nosebleed due to nosepicking or simply vulnerable tissue. No need for panic. If it happens more often than not, then simply check with a doctor. And still no need for panic.

  • @RizzRustbolt@lemmy.world
    7•4 months ago

    If I feel something more solid than snot hit the tissue, I’ll check.

    You never know when it might be bloody sinus tissue again.

  • Vaggumon
    5•4 months ago

    I hold the folded tissue up to the light, if I see color I double check, if not, then no. Also I usually only do this if I feel a reason to, like feeling sick, or like it may have been a bloody nose, etc.