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The excessive mucus production leading to a runny nose in post-nasal drip can cause many other symptoms. The constant drip of thick mucus into the throat can lead to a constant feeling of needing to clear your throat. You may develop a sore, scratchy throat and the vocal cords may become quite irritated, leading to hoarseness. If the mucus is thick and copious enough, it can block the nasal breathing passages and can cause significant congestion and stuffiness. It can also block and irritate the eustacean tubes in the back of the nose, leading to the feeling of fullness in the ears. Another very common symptom associated with post-nasal drip is cough. In fact, post-nasal drip is one of the more common reasons patients can develop a chronic cough that just won’t go away. This is because the mucus can begin to make its way down into the larynx, where the air enters the trachea leading down into the lungs, and the body is trying to protect your lungs by coughing this mucus up. We often see that these symptoms worsen at night when patients lie down. Which makes sense due to the fact that gravity causes even more drainage of mucus into the back of the throat, causing even more irritation and more blockage.
