# Sore Throat and Mucus: What's the SD?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sore-throat-and-mucus-whats-the-sd/248290>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [June 2, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sore-throat-and-mucus-whats-the-sd/248290 "2004-06-02T17:42:21Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Chairman\_Pow](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/838e76/32.png) [@Chairman\_Pow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chairman_Pow)\
**Post date:** [June 2, 2004, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/sore-throat-and-mucus-whats-the-sd/248290/1 "2004-06-02T17:42:21Z")

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I’ve got me a sore throat and the mucus that keeps collecting in the back of the throat. I’ve noticed two things:

1. As long as I lay down, I don’t really have any problems.

2. Once I stand/sit up, I start coughing.

I’m assuming that the cause of this is the mucus shifting down the back of my throat and clogging something-or-other. Once I start coughing, I can feel this stuff dislodge and I stop coughing. The problem is that the back of my throat gets raw and hurts like hell. Water and lozenges help for a little while.

Now, I’ve read both that 1) I need to get rid of this mucus, for whatever reason and 2) I need to keep that mucus there because it’s protecting the…things…that are working to fix whatever might be wrong with the ol’ throat.

So, should I hack this mucus up or keep it around until it disappears on its own?

Thanks for the help.