Brown Mucus/Phlegm Symptoms

Coughing Up Brown Mucus

Mucus is a common phenomenon of having a cold or chest infection. While mucus can be gross, it actually is important because it protects the surfaces of mucus-making tissues, like those in the nose, sinuses, mouth, lungs, throat and GI tract, so that the tissue doesn’t dry out. Mucus can have many different colors, including clear, yellow, green or brown. If you are coughing up brown mucus, you should take note of that as it could mean you have more than a simple cold.

Coughing up Brown Mucus, Why?

Here are 6 main reasons that explain why you are coughing up brownish mucus:

1. Smoking

Coughing up brown mucus can just mean you are a smoker. The regular inhalation of smoke from tobacco products means you are inhaling certain resins, chemicals and tar. These substances get stuck in the lungs and, when you cough, you will be coughing up brown mucus. It is a way of having the lungs clear up what has become trapped within it. This kind of mucus usually coughs up during the morning hours and is a normal phenomenon. It especially worsens after you are trying to quit smoking because the lung cilia liven up and try to clear out the mucus that has built up over the years when you smoked.

2. Environmental Factors

Those of you who must live in polluted environments may also be coughing up brown mucus because there are pollutants, including dirt and dust, building up in the throat and lungs. A major function of mucus is filtering out the air we breathe in. It traps dust particles and other pollutants that make the mucus appear brown when you cough it up. This can last as long as you are exposed to the pollutant.

3. What You Eat and Drink

If you eat particular foods, you can cough up brown mucus. These include chocolate, coffee, tea, red wine and dark sodas that will make your mucus look brown. Eating a lot of garlic will also lead to coughing up brown mucus.

4. Underlying Causes

If you suffer from certain types of lung infections, you may be coughing up brown mucus. The mucus in the lungs is designed to trap bacteria and viruses and when you cough it up, it can be discolored. Brown mucus is especially common in chronic bronchitis of the lungs but can be seen in lung cancer and emphysema. If you are consistently coughing up brown mucus, you should see a doctor to identify the possible reasons behind the brown coloration of the mucus. It may be something in the lungs but can also occur if you have a case of infected sinuses.

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5. Nasal Polyps

This is not a serious condition and the mucus should have a color of dried blood. Nasal polyps can irritate the sinuses and nasal cavity, and commonly lead to nose bleeding. So when the blood dries, it can look brown in color.

6. Alcoholics

Alcohol abuse can make it more likely that you will suffer from various kinds of upper respiratory infections, including infections of the throat and lungs. Coughing up brown mucus is common in alcoholics, especially those that consume alcoholic beverages that are also brown in color.

How to Deal With Coughing Up Brown Mucus

There are ways you can come to cope with coughing up brown mucus. The following are some common things you can do to reduce the amount of brown mucus in your respiratory tract.

1. Medications

• Sudafed or any good decongestant in pill form or as a nasal spray can cut down on mucus production so you will have drier mucus membranes and less mucus.
• Expectorants such as guaifenesin will loosen up the mucus in your throat and lungs but don’t suppress the cough. They just make the mucus thinner so it is easier to cough up when you are coughing. Robitussin and Mucinex are good expectorants to choose from. You should avoid the cough suppressants sometimes seen in combination expectorant/cough suppressant medications.
• Cough Suppressants: If you want to avoid coughing altogether, you should take dextromethorphan so you can suppress the cough. Pholcodine is another less commonly used cough suppressant you can use. Cough medicines with codeine will also reduce the coughing.
• Throat lozenges. You can suppress the tickle in your throat by using throat lozenges. They come in many flavors and will help reduce throat pain and coughing.
• Antihistamines include medications like diphenhydramine and promethazine. They can dry up the secretions in the respiratory tract so you won’t cough up as much mucus.
• Ipratropium bromide is a nasal spray that lessens the amount of watery nasal secretions that can drip in the back of your throat, reducing the cough.

2. Home Remedies

There are several home remedies you can take that will lessen the amount of brown mucus in your throat. These include:

• Drink plenty of fluids. This helps the mucus loosen so you can cough it out much easier. Water is the best fluid to drink.
• Try a natural tea. The warmth of teas will reduce the amount of thick respiratory mucus and will allow you to cough up mucus better.
• Use honey and pepper. Mix a bit of honey and white pepper into warm water or just eat it off a spoon. This helps dry up mucus and will lessen the cough.
• Inhale steam. If you have a steamer, put it on and breathe it in. You can have an increase in expectoration if you add eucalyptus leaves or mint leaves to the steamer. It can humidify the air so that you can breathe better.
• Try Golden Seal. This is an herb you can find in health stores that reduces the congestion and irritation of the lungs. Take it as directed by an herbalist.
• Try garlic and milk. Mix a clove of minced garlic and put it into milk to help you cough up the thicker mucus within the lungs. In this case, the garlic is used as a natural expectorant.
• Blend ginger juice into honey and take it twice daily to help deal with coughing up brown mucus.
• Boil up fresh basil leaves with crushed black pepper and about a tsp. of crushed ginger. Then add a teaspoon of honey. Take this concoction 2-3 times per day to loosen the phlegm in your throat.
• Quit smoking. It takes more than one year to get rid of mucus from the respiratory tract after quitting smoking.
• Gargle with salt water. Make a saline solution by mixing a pinch of salt into lukewarm water. Gargle with this solution for a few weeks so that you can loosen the phlegm in your throat.
• Blow your nose. You should do this every morning to clear out mucus that has built up throughout the night.
• Avoid refined foods, dairy products, heavy meals and fried food. These foods can change the texture of the mucus you cough up.
• Eat fruits. Fresh fruits are best when you are coughing up brown mucus from a cold. They have vitamin C that will help you resolve your symptoms faster.
• Use a neti pot. This is a special device in which you pour saline into one nostril, allowing the fluid and mucus to drain out of the other nostril.

Brown Mucus/Phlegm Symptoms

Shamard Charles, MD, MPH is a public health physician and journalist. He has held positions with major news networks like NBC reporting on health policy, public health initiatives, diversity in medicine, and new developments in health care research and medical treatments.

Published on October 31, 2022

Susan Russell, MD is a board-certified pulmonologist and currently the Medical Director for Northwestern Memorial Hospital’s Inpatient Pulmonary Unit.

Table of Contents
Table of Contents

Mucus comes in a variety of colors (green, white, reddish-pink, or brown), textures, and even names (such as sputum and phlegm ). Clear or watery phlegm is usually not worrisome. It is associated with benign conditions like seasonal allergies, post-nasal drip, or a cold.

Less commonly, you may find yourself coughing up brown mucus, which may be associated with a number of conditions, including smoking, chronic lung disease, or infections.

The presence of tar, dirt, or old blood or the inflammation of the lower portions of the throat and upper airways are the most common reasons for brown phlegm. This article will explain the symptoms associated with brown mucus, its many causes, and how to treat it.

Symptoms of Brown Mucus/Phlegm

The presence of brown mucus may be worrisome, especially if you are a current or former smoker. The most common symptom associated with brown mucus or phlegm is a cough. A cough associated with any type of mucus is called a productive cough. Other symptoms associated with brown phlegm include:

• Fever
• Chills
• Shortness of breath
• Congestion
• Sneezing or sniffles
• Wheezing
• Chest pain, especially pain on inspiration (breathing in) or expiration (breathing out)
• Sore throat
• Sweating
• Exercise intolerance
• Fatigue
• Unexplained weight loss

Causes of Brown Mucus/Phlegm

If you notice you have brown phlegm, you don’t need to be excessively alarmed, especially if you are young, generally healthy, and have no smoking history or other risk factors.

Still, you should never take the presence of brown phlegm lightly. Get checked by a healthcare provider to make sure that more serious underlying conditions are not the cause of your symptoms.

Brown phlegm can be caused by a wide range of conditions, including:

• Smoker’s cough: Tar from the lungs due to chronic smoking may be brought up with coughing.
• Exposure to air pollution.
• Inhalation of toxic environmental or occupational substances such as coal dust from mining (coal workers’ pneumoconiosis).
• Viral infection.
• Chronic lung disease: Chronic lung diseases like chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, chronic bronchitis, bronchiectasis, and emphysema are often associated with long-term smoking, although genetic conditions like cystic fibrosis and interstitial lung disease may also cause brown mucus.
• Lung cancer: Smoking is the major risk factor for lung cancer, but it can occur in non-smokers. Your risk of lung cancer remains high even 15 years after quitting smoking. Quitting early, before the age of 40, has also been associated with a lower lung cancer risk.
• Bacterial pneumonia: Bacterial infections damage the tissues that line the lungs. Bleeding, especially old blood that remains in the lungs, can taint the mucus in your upper airways and make it appear brown.
• Lung abscess: This is a pocket of infection in the lung, often caused by aspirating material into the lungs. Sometimes a productive cough is the first sign of a lung abscess.
• Asthma (rarely).

How to Treat Brown Mucus/Phlegm

The presence of brown phlegm can be alarming, but if you are generally healthy and have no history of smoking, chances are you have a benign condition that can be treated.

The most definitive way to get rid of your brown phlegm is to resolve the underlying condition that is causing your symptom in the first place.

If the cause of your lung damage is primarily due to smoking, your healthcare provider will suggest that you quit immediately. You may notice that your symptoms are getting better in just a matter of days or weeks.

If air pollution or toxic substances are the cause of your lung damage, it may be best for you to move or quit your job, although understandably, this may not be feasible for everyone. Sometimes contaminants in the home (such as mold) can be mitigated if identified.

Antibiotics may be used to treat bacterial pneumonia and lung abscesses. Antivirals may be used in some types of viral infections. Finally, lung cancer is often treated with a combination of surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation.

Complications and Risk Factors Associated With Brown Mucus/Phlegm

Your mucus turns brown because damage to the upper respiratory tract from chronic inflammation mixes mucus with old blood, tar, or debris (or a combination of all three). Inflammation within the lung also leads to an overall increase in mucus production which can cause a chronic cough.

Medical complications associated with the development of brown mucus or phlegm include:

• Lung cancer
• Lung abscess
• Bacterial pneumonia
• Black lung (coal miners’ lung or coal workers’ pneumoconiosis)
• Fungal infections of the lung, such as aspergillosis
• Lung damage due to smoke inhalation from a house fire or wildfire

The following risk factors are associated with an increased risk of upper respiratory lung damage:

• Older age
• History of smoking (especially a history of early smoking before age 45 for 10 or more years)
• Occupational exposure to chemicals toxic to the lungs
• Weakened immune system

Are There Tests to Diagnose the Cause of Brown Mucus/Phlegm?

The tests for diagnosing the cause of your brown mucus will depend on your clinical presentation, medical/smoking history, and physical examination.

• Labs: A complete blood cell count with differential, viral tests (flu and COVID-19), and a basic metabolic panel can help detect underlying infections.
• Imaging: A chest X-ray is a quick, cheap, and effective way to identify the presence of infection (pneumonia or abscess) in the lungs. Computed tomography (CT) scans of the lungs can provide a more detailed look at the damage, especially by tumors or chronic lung diseases.
• Bronchoscopy: A scope with a camera at the end can look at your lungs and even be used to biopsy (take a sample for analysis) suspicious lesions or masses that may be the cause of your brown phlegm.
• Sputum culture: This test looks for organisms (fungi or bacteria) that may be causing an infection in the lungs.

When to See a Healthcare Provider

If your symptoms do not improve or worsen even after treatment or present with ominous signs such as thick or smelly discharge, fever, shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, or unexplained weight loss, seek immediate medical attention.

Consulting a healthcare provider may help you to determine new or better treatments or help you determine if there is a need for more imaging and a bronchoscopy to figure out the precise cause of your brown sputum.

Summary

Brown mucus is a less common form of phlegm that is caused by a variety of conditions, ranging from smoking and air pollution to chronic lung disease and bacterial or viral infections. See a healthcare provider if this symptom persists or is accompanied by other symptoms such as fever, shortness of breath, chest pain, or unexplained weight loss.

A Word From Verywell

Mucus production is important to your health because it protects against infection. It serves the dual role of trapping debris and foreign substances while also keeping your airways moist. Under normal circumstances, mucus is clear and thin, but if it changes color, it may be a sign of underlying disease.

If your mucus has changed color, texture, or volume, worsened despite treatment, or is associated with systemic symptoms like fever or significant weight loss, seek immediate medical attention because this may be a sign of a medical emergency.

Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read our editorial process to learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

1. The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. What does the color of phlegm mean?
2. American Cancer Society. What causes lung cancer?
3. Thomson B, Emberson J, Lacey B, et al. Association of smoking initiation and cessation across the life course and cancer mortality: prospective study of 410,000 US adults. JAMA Oncology. 2021;7(12):1901-1903. doi:10.1001/jamaoncol.2021.4949
4. Kuhajda I, Zarogoulidis K, Tsirgogianni K, et al. Lung abscess-etiology, diagnostic and treatment options. Annals of Translational Medicine. 2015;3(13):183. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.07.08
5. Kuhajda I, Zarogoulidis K, Tsirgogianni K, et al. Lung abscess-etiology, diagnostic and treatment options. Ann Transl Med. 2015;3(13):183. doi:10.3978/j.issn.2305-5839.2015.07.08

By Shamard Charles, MD, MPH
Shamard Charles, MD, MPH is a public health physician and journalist. He has held positions with major news networks like NBC reporting on health policy, public health initiatives, diversity in medicine, and new developments in health care research and medical treatments.