Thick mucus

Does any one know how to wash or clean the mouth from mucus

Comments

  • patricke
    patricke Member Posts: 570
    Mutant Mucus
    Ah, yes, mucus, not just mucus, but mutant mucus, ropey, clingey and 200 weight viscosity. I have found that the intervention that works best for me is to wipe it out with a wet paper towel, or Puff tissue (I have found that Puffs are sturdier than other brands, and do not shred in my mouth as readily). I have not found a wash or rinse that works without the swab out accompaniment. I must say that it is a bit of an effort, and that after utilizing my intervention, I always feel wiped out.

    Patrick
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    Rinses
    When I was going through the rads, I was prescribed to use rinses frequently of about 1/3 glass of water, a few table spoons of hydrogen peroxide and a table spoon of baking soda.

    Rinse and spit....

    Best,
    John
  • Lelia
    Lelia Member Posts: 98
    patricke said:

    Mutant Mucus
    Ah, yes, mucus, not just mucus, but mutant mucus, ropey, clingey and 200 weight viscosity. I have found that the intervention that works best for me is to wipe it out with a wet paper towel, or Puff tissue (I have found that Puffs are sturdier than other brands, and do not shred in my mouth as readily). I have not found a wash or rinse that works without the swab out accompaniment. I must say that it is a bit of an effort, and that after utilizing my intervention, I always feel wiped out.

    Patrick

    Suction machine!
    My husband had mouthfuls of thick ropey mucus and we did about what you described until the Onco's NP prescribed a home suction machine, it's a really neat compact gizmo that resembles a thermal lunchbag with shoulder strap. This thing sucks out the mucus like nobody's business, two months after rads ended we're still using it, I don't know how we'd have survived w/o it.

    I learned here (props to Sweetblood) about L-Glutamine and it's helped a lot too, it's cheap and easy to get, one heaping flavorless teaspoon a day dissolved in a couple oz water, through the PEG if you can't swallow or, ideally, swished and swallowed.
  • slow_recovery
    slow_recovery Member Posts: 4
    Thick mucus
    Another rinse you might try is 1 quart of water with one teaspoon of salt and one teaspoon of backing soda. Making a quart at a time lasts for the whole day.
  • patricke
    patricke Member Posts: 570
    Lelia said:

    Suction machine!
    My husband had mouthfuls of thick ropey mucus and we did about what you described until the Onco's NP prescribed a home suction machine, it's a really neat compact gizmo that resembles a thermal lunchbag with shoulder strap. This thing sucks out the mucus like nobody's business, two months after rads ended we're still using it, I don't know how we'd have survived w/o it.

    I learned here (props to Sweetblood) about L-Glutamine and it's helped a lot too, it's cheap and easy to get, one heaping flavorless teaspoon a day dissolved in a couple oz water, through the PEG if you can't swallow or, ideally, swished and swallowed.

    Thanks for the information
    I did use a suction machine a lot for a few months after the conclusion of rad treatment, but stopped when my saliva dryed up. I have needed to use it again for the past couple of months, but I am now tapering down my use of it as the volume of mucus is decreasing. I am deffinitely going to try the L-Glutamine, and see if it might further decrease the volume and viscosity of the mucus. My thanks to you and Sweetblood for the suggestion.

    Patrick
  • patricke
    patricke Member Posts: 570
    Skiffin16 said:

    Rinses
    When I was going through the rads, I was prescribed to use rinses frequently of about 1/3 glass of water, a few table spoons of hydrogen peroxide and a table spoon of baking soda.

    Rinse and spit....

    Best,
    John

    Mucus Relief
    This sounds interesting, what size glass do you use?

    Patrick
  • Greend
    Greend Member Posts: 678
    ahhhh the mucus
    15 years out and I still have mucus that would lubricate the engine on a 747. I use several methods, 1) the tissue down the throat 2) gargle with peroxide and water mix and 3) steam up the shower and breath in the steam followed by a lot of coughing (hacking)

    I do rate each "mission" on a 1-10 scale.

    I am going to try the suction machine next.

    Not a simple solution.
  • Skiffin16
    Skiffin16 Member Posts: 8,305 Member
    patricke said:

    Mucus Relief
    This sounds interesting, what size glass do you use?

    Patrick

    LOL, a 12 ounce I suppose...it's not a real science, just enough water to dilute the peroxidie and dissolve the baking soda...

    To be honest, after the first few times, I just filled the glass with about 1/3 water, poured in what I thought was a table spoon or two of the peroxide and a level tablespoon scoop of the baking soda....

    Then I'd use regular water to rinse, brush my teeth, tongue, gums and cheeks....then rinse and spit with the peroxide solution...several times a day.

    JG
  • SteveWarr
    SteveWarr Member Posts: 1
    I had superglottic and a
    I had superglottic and a laryngectomy with radical disection for stage 2 on 5/2/11 at Duke University. Having been a heavy smoker had constant thick dark mucas for 6 weeks, but thick clear mucus continues. Have a real problem with mucus plugs that are the hardest darn things to cough up. My speech therapist recommends brushing teeth 5 times per day with 5 rinses with non-alcoholic anti-bacterial mouth rinses. This takes care of the mucus in the mornings. They also recommend ginger ale as it cuts through mucus.