Notorious Green Mucus
The fear of green mucus is so deeply entrenched that even some health-care professionals still incorrectly believe it. Thousands of parents bring their children to the doctor's office unnecessarily each year because they fear that green mucus means that their child has come down with a bacterial infection.
Green mucus does not necessarily indicate the presence of a bacterial infection. In fact, when nasal discharge turns green, it usually means that whatever is causing the mucus in the first place is retreating. As a person recovers from a cold, the amount of nasal discharge decreases, and the mucus naturally thickens. This often changes the color of the mucus from clear to yellow or green.
The underlying reasons for nasal discharge are many, including a viral infection, nasal allergy, some object that got stuck inside the nostril, or a bacterial infection of the sinuses. The fact that the secretion is green doesn't provide any information about what might be causing the discharge.
What causes the mucus to turn green?
The green color has nothing to do with the presence of bacteria. In fact, the green color appears because one of the chemicals produced by the body's own immune cells appears green. This type of immune cell can appear in many scenarios, including infections and allergy.
The only situation in which mucus discharge makes it necessary to use antibiotics is when there is a bacterial infection, most frequently caused by an infection in the sinus.
However, this typically occurs after at least two weeks of runny nose and nasal congestion. Other symptoms, including body aches, headache, or low-grade fever may also help the diagnosis of a sinus infection. A true sinus infection is almost never the problem when the green mucus has been around for just a few days.
