Phlegm

This mucus thing that makes you cough, get bronchitis and even pneumonia.

Simply put, if the phlegm dries up, it clogs the tubes and linings in your lungs which tickles and irritates them and hence makes you cough. If they don’t get cleared, they might block small sections of your lungs, or more precisely the bronchial tubes, which might get infected with bacteria (bronchitis). If infection is serious, you might end up with pneumonia.

This is why you need plenty of fluid to help prevent the phlegm from drying and thickening and at the same time flush them out. Breathing in moist air helps. That’s why you feel better in a hot shower (because of the steam) and worst in an air-con environment because the air is basically drier unless you use a humidifier. If you feel the air you are breathing in is dry, breath through a wet towel.

When the dried phlegm is moistens and loosens, it starts to slide down the bronchial tubes. This tickles and irritates making you cough. Coughing in these instances is good, as it forces the phlegm to go up and out of your throat and nose.

When phlegm gets stuck in your nose and goes into the sinuses, you will most likely get a headache and worst case scenario, sinusitis.

In hospitals, they have these vacuum suction machines to extract phlegm. A nurse might turn you on your front and pound your back with cupped hands to loosen the phlegm for you to cough out or be extracted.

I have been trying to clear my lungs of phlegm over the past three weeks and I am glad I have finally succeeded after three visits to the doctor and spending $119.

I think it began two days before Chinese New Year (CNY). I went out to do some errands and this guy standing one body away from me in a packed MRT started coughing. On my way back, the taxi driver was also coughing. On CNY Eve, I got a dried throat, headache and a slight fever. Drank plenty of fluid and took two panadols. I seemed to have warded off the infection.

However, on the second day of CNY, out of the blue, I started coughing. It got worst and so I went to consult my doctor on Thursday, 18 February and was given two days medical leave and three days worth of medication, including antibiotics. Seemed to be recovering but it got bad when I went back to the office. So on Tuesday, 23 February I went back to my doctor. Was given two days medical leave and I took one day leave; resting at home for the following three days. My conditions improved. There was less phlegm though I was still coughing once in a while.

I had wanted to go to my aunt’s place and play with my cousins' children. But decided against it since I was still coughing periodically even though I seemed to have recovered. However I thought it was better to get rid of the coughing entirely and went back to my doctor again on Friday, 5 March. She said that I still have small amount of phlegm in different locations of my lungs. Because they were tiny amount, they were not big enough to pass out and get cleared. These small patches of phlegm occasionally irritate the lining of the lungs and hence I coughed.

I have stopped coughing for the last two days and I believe I have fully recovered – just in time to have lunch with my cousins’ children and play with them.