What Exactly is a Postnasal Drip and What Can You Do About It?

Some people just feel awful when they wake up every morning - with a hacking cough, a very sore throat or at least the feeling that there's something in their throat all thime, is what greets them first thing in the morning. They keep hacking and clearing their throat but it doesn't make any difference. When you feel like that all the time, there's just one explanation - you have postnasal drip.

We all think mucus is disgusting. And yet it is only disgusting to us when we actually see it. You can't really afford to think about what is disgusting when you're dealing with living beings. We are full of disgusting stuff. Why, on any given day, your nasal tissues produce a pint of mucus. And where does it go? Don't ask - it goes right down your throat without ever entering your mouth.

Don't let that thought disturb you. It's natural for your body to do this. Without all that mucus going down your throat and cleansing your respiratory passages, you would be completely infected all the time.

What happens though, when the that mucus loses its way and ends up the back of your throat? That's when you get postnasal drip. It's a very unpleasant feeling. It happens for many reasons. If your mucus tissues produce too much stuff and if it's too thin and watery, you get that dripping sensation in you throat. That's why they call it postnasal drip.

It can either be very thin and runny so that it drips, or it can be extremely sick like the stuff you get during a cold. And it just sticks to the back of your throat.

There are a number of things that cause postnasal drip - that cause your nasal mucus tissues to go awry like this. You could have an allergy to your surroundings, there could be air pollution of a specific kind, or there could be some kind of deformity in the way your nasal passages are frmed. Or you could have an infection.

Most doctors right away write you out a regular prescription for antihistamines that have the effect of drying up your mucus. Of course, you also end up with of the dreaded dry mouth, that can be very difficult too.

When you have that, there are a number of home remedies that can help. You could gargle saltwater, you could use a nasal syringe with water mixed with baking soda. You could  alsoinhale steam.