# What's the difference between white mucous and yellow-green mucous? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 16, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336 "2005-11-16T17:02:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/1 "2005-11-16T17:02:02Z")
I’m a little sick, and when I blew my nose one nostril was pretty easily cleared of a white/transparent mucous, while the other was much harder to blow. When I cleared it, the mucous was viscous and yellow-green. Why such a difference? What is that difference? ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/2 "2005-11-16T17:19:10Z")
I’m looking forward to the answer too… I’ve always heard that clear/white mucous = allergy/nasal irritant but greenish/yellow = illness/infection. However, I’ve been recently informed that this is an old wives’ tale. So what’s the dope? ---
**Author:** ![beagledave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/6de8d8/32.png) [@beagledave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beagledave)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/3 "2005-11-16T17:39:28Z")
From an ER doc [http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/nov99/941408275.Me.r.html](http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/nov99/941408275.Me.r.html) > [@](#): > > There is not much clinical significance to the different colors of throat > mucus. Although clear is the normal color, yellow, white, and green mucus > all usually indicate infection-fighting cells in the mucus. Brown mucus > usually indicates some blood mixed in with the mucus; this is pretty > normal with any irritation of the throat. The different colors do not > help to decide whether a sore throat is a virus infection or Strep throat > (which is a bacterial infection). FWIW…when I have chronic sinusitis, my mucous is green or yellowish green. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/4 "2005-11-16T18:08:16Z")
Incidentally, it’s “mucus”. Mucous is the adjective, mucus is the noun. As in “mucous membranes produce mucus.” I’m probably the only person in the world for whom this is a pet peeve. ---
**Author:** ![Podkayne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@Podkayne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Podkayne)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/5 "2005-11-16T19:37:39Z")
Wow, this is a hard topic to get information about! I was googling around, and I kept find resources that say one thing or another about green snot, and then go on to say, “Homeopathy is an easy, safe and effective way to treat colds,” or “While the medical establishment perpetuates the myth that sinus infections cause green nasal discharge, it has been scientifically proven that your body produces mucus to flush toxins from the body, and bacteria in the mucus merely serve to ‘biodegrade’ these poisons,” or “While colds are caused by a virus, influenza is caused by possession by demons.” Okay, maybe not so much the last one. ---
**Author:** ![OslerKnew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/58f4c7/32.png) [@OslerKnew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/OslerKnew)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 7:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/6 "2005-11-16T19:56:41Z")
[QUOTE=beagledave] From an ER doc [http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/nov99/941408275.Me.r.html](http://www.madsci.org/posts/archives/nov99/941408275.Me.r.html) This quote cited is indeed right on target. Mucus is mostly made up of _mucin_, which is a glycoprotein (glucose and protein entity), and in the usual state is clear/or nearly colorless. With infection (either bacterial or viral) it is the cellular debris and byproducts of the immune system response that causes color change in the mucus. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/7 "2005-11-16T22:46:37Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > Incidentally, it’s “mucus”. Mucous is the adjective, mucus is the noun. As in “mucous membranes produce mucus.” > > I’m probably the only person in the world for whom this is a pet peeve. Well you don’t have to get snotty about it. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Johanna](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johanna/32/8318_2.png) [@Johanna](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johanna)\ **Post date:** [November 16, 2005, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/8 "2005-11-16T22:53:13Z")
The snotgreen sea. —James Joyce, _Ulysses_ ---
**Author:** ![myskepticsight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/cc9497/32.png) [@myskepticsight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/myskepticsight)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/9 "2005-11-17T00:53:08Z")
I know when mine’s green, I go to the doctor and she gives me sweet sweet amoxicillin. To treat a sinus infection. Then a couple days later I feel better. ---
**Author:** ![don\_t\_ask](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e68b1a/32.png) [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/10 "2005-11-17T00:59:54Z")
The green stuff grows naturally but the white stuff isn’t exposed to sunlight. No wait, that’s asparagus. ---
**Author:** ![Revtim](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/revtim/32/1042_2.png) [@Revtim](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revtim)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2005, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-difference-between-white-mucous-and-yellow-green-mucous/331336/11 "2005-11-17T01:10:50Z")
Taste? No, that’s thermometers.