Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsSymptomsCausesComplicationsDiagnosisWhen to See a Provider
Table of ContentsView All
View All
Table of Contents
Symptoms
Causes
Complications
Diagnosis
When to See a Provider
Brown mucus is associated with a number of conditions, including smoking, chronic lung disease, and infection with a virus or bacteria. Brown mucus may also be called brownsputumorphlegm.
The presence of tar, dirt, or old blood or inflammation in 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 it is treated.
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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 aproductive cough. Other symptoms associated with brown phlegm include:
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.
Smoker’s Cough
People withsmoker’s coughcan bring up tar from the lungs when coughing. Tar can give the mucus a brownish color. Besides having a persistent cough lasting two or more weeks, people with smoker’s cough may have other symptoms including:
Quitting smoking is the best way to treat smoker’s cough. You can also ease symptoms with certain lifestyle strategies such as:
Air Pollution
If you do develop a cough, try treating it at home with remedies such as:
Occupational Toxins
Inhalation of toxic environmental or occupational substances such as coal dust from mining can cause chronic lung conditions such ascoal workers' pneumoconiosis, also called black lung disease.
Besides a cough, people with black lung disease may experience:
There is no cure for black lung disease. Treatment is focused on managing symptoms. This may include:
Viral Infection
These infections may be treated with:
Chronic Lung Disease
Chronic lung diseases can cause brown mucus.These conditions are often associated with long-term smoking and include:
Genetic conditions likecystic fibrosisandinterstitial lung diseasemay also cause brown mucus.
Treatment for chronic lung disease is specific to the condition. You may need treatments that makes it easier to breathe, such as:
Lung Cancer
Smoking is the major risk factor forlung cancer, butit 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.
People with lung cancer may have other symptoms besides a cough, including:
Bacterial Pneumonia
Bacterial pneumoniais an infection that damages 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.
If you have bacterial pneumonia, you may also experience other symptoms such as:
Bacterial pneumonia may be treated with:
Lung Abscess
Symptoms of a lung abscess can resemble pneumonia and may include:
Treatment for a lung abscess usually involves drainage. In cases where the abscess is large, surgery may be required.
Asthma/Aspergillosis
People withasthmamay develop secondary conditions that lead to the production of brown mucus, such as aspergillosis, a hypersensitivity to certain species of mold.
Besides a cough, people with this condition may have:
Treatment is usually an antifungal medication. Sometimes an oral corticosteroid may also be prescribed.
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:
The following risk factors are associated with an increased risk of upper respiratory lung damage:
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.
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
14 SourcesVerywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Singh S.Respiratory symptoms and signs.Carlsten C, Salvi S, Wong GWK, Chung KF.Personal strategies to minimise effects of air pollution on respiratory health: advice for providers, patients and the public.Eur Respir J. 2020;55(6):1902056. doi:10.1183/13993003.02056-2019Dong H, Zhu B, Kong X, Zhang X.Efficient clinical data analysis for prediction of coal workers' pneumoconiosis using machine learning algorithms.Clin Respir J. 2023;17(7):684-693. doi:10.1111/crj.13657Blackley DH, Halldin CN, Laney AS.Continued increase in lung transplantation for coal workers' pneumoconiosis in the United States.Am J Ind Med.2018;61(7):621-624. doi:10.1002/ajim.22856Schäfer J, Griese M, Chandrasekaran R, Chotirmall SH, Hartl D.Pathogenesis, imaging and clinical characteristics of CF and non-CF bronchiectasis.BMC Pulm Med. 2018;18(1):79. doi:10.1186/s12890-018-0630-8Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.What does the color of phlegm mean?American Cancer Society.What causes lung cancer?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.2021.4949Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Symptoms of lung cancer.Adhikary S, Duggal MK, Nagendran S, Chintamaneni M, Tuli HS, Kaur G.Lefamulin: A new hope in the field of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2022;8(6):418-426. doi:10.1007/s40495-022-00297-6Johns Hopkins Medicine.Pneumonia.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.2305-5839.2015.07.08Bernheim A, McLoud T.A review of clinical and imaging findings in eosinophilic lung diseases.AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2017;208(5):1002-1010. doi:10.2214/AJR.16.17315American Lung Association.How apergillosis is treated.
14 Sources
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Singh S.Respiratory symptoms and signs.Carlsten C, Salvi S, Wong GWK, Chung KF.Personal strategies to minimise effects of air pollution on respiratory health: advice for providers, patients and the public.Eur Respir J. 2020;55(6):1902056. doi:10.1183/13993003.02056-2019Dong H, Zhu B, Kong X, Zhang X.Efficient clinical data analysis for prediction of coal workers' pneumoconiosis using machine learning algorithms.Clin Respir J. 2023;17(7):684-693. doi:10.1111/crj.13657Blackley DH, Halldin CN, Laney AS.Continued increase in lung transplantation for coal workers' pneumoconiosis in the United States.Am J Ind Med.2018;61(7):621-624. doi:10.1002/ajim.22856Schäfer J, Griese M, Chandrasekaran R, Chotirmall SH, Hartl D.Pathogenesis, imaging and clinical characteristics of CF and non-CF bronchiectasis.BMC Pulm Med. 2018;18(1):79. doi:10.1186/s12890-018-0630-8Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.What does the color of phlegm mean?American Cancer Society.What causes lung cancer?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.2021.4949Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Symptoms of lung cancer.Adhikary S, Duggal MK, Nagendran S, Chintamaneni M, Tuli HS, Kaur G.Lefamulin: A new hope in the field of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2022;8(6):418-426. doi:10.1007/s40495-022-00297-6Johns Hopkins Medicine.Pneumonia.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.2305-5839.2015.07.08Bernheim A, McLoud T.A review of clinical and imaging findings in eosinophilic lung diseases.AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2017;208(5):1002-1010. doi:10.2214/AJR.16.17315American Lung Association.How apergillosis is treated.
Verywell Health uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.
Singh S.Respiratory symptoms and signs.Carlsten C, Salvi S, Wong GWK, Chung KF.Personal strategies to minimise effects of air pollution on respiratory health: advice for providers, patients and the public.Eur Respir J. 2020;55(6):1902056. doi:10.1183/13993003.02056-2019Dong H, Zhu B, Kong X, Zhang X.Efficient clinical data analysis for prediction of coal workers' pneumoconiosis using machine learning algorithms.Clin Respir J. 2023;17(7):684-693. doi:10.1111/crj.13657Blackley DH, Halldin CN, Laney AS.Continued increase in lung transplantation for coal workers' pneumoconiosis in the United States.Am J Ind Med.2018;61(7):621-624. doi:10.1002/ajim.22856Schäfer J, Griese M, Chandrasekaran R, Chotirmall SH, Hartl D.Pathogenesis, imaging and clinical characteristics of CF and non-CF bronchiectasis.BMC Pulm Med. 2018;18(1):79. doi:10.1186/s12890-018-0630-8Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.What does the color of phlegm mean?American Cancer Society.What causes lung cancer?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.2021.4949Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Symptoms of lung cancer.Adhikary S, Duggal MK, Nagendran S, Chintamaneni M, Tuli HS, Kaur G.Lefamulin: A new hope in the field of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2022;8(6):418-426. doi:10.1007/s40495-022-00297-6Johns Hopkins Medicine.Pneumonia.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.2305-5839.2015.07.08Bernheim A, McLoud T.A review of clinical and imaging findings in eosinophilic lung diseases.AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2017;208(5):1002-1010. doi:10.2214/AJR.16.17315American Lung Association.How apergillosis is treated.
Singh S.Respiratory symptoms and signs.
Carlsten C, Salvi S, Wong GWK, Chung KF.Personal strategies to minimise effects of air pollution on respiratory health: advice for providers, patients and the public.Eur Respir J. 2020;55(6):1902056. doi:10.1183/13993003.02056-2019
Dong H, Zhu B, Kong X, Zhang X.Efficient clinical data analysis for prediction of coal workers' pneumoconiosis using machine learning algorithms.Clin Respir J. 2023;17(7):684-693. doi:10.1111/crj.13657
Blackley DH, Halldin CN, Laney AS.Continued increase in lung transplantation for coal workers' pneumoconiosis in the United States.Am J Ind Med.2018;61(7):621-624. doi:10.1002/ajim.22856
Schäfer J, Griese M, Chandrasekaran R, Chotirmall SH, Hartl D.Pathogenesis, imaging and clinical characteristics of CF and non-CF bronchiectasis.BMC Pulm Med. 2018;18(1):79. doi:10.1186/s12890-018-0630-8
Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center.What does the color of phlegm mean?
American Cancer Society.What causes lung cancer?
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
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Symptoms of lung cancer.
Adhikary S, Duggal MK, Nagendran S, Chintamaneni M, Tuli HS, Kaur G.Lefamulin: A new hope in the field of community-acquired bacterial pneumonia.Curr Pharmacol Rep. 2022;8(6):418-426. doi:10.1007/s40495-022-00297-6
Johns Hopkins Medicine.Pneumonia.
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
Bernheim A, McLoud T.A review of clinical and imaging findings in eosinophilic lung diseases.AJR Am J Roentgenol. 2017;208(5):1002-1010. doi:10.2214/AJR.16.17315
American Lung Association.How apergillosis is treated.
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