Phlegm in the throat after drinking hot/cold liquid

[xyamaca]

Cannot avoid  coughing up sputum after drinking anything hot/cold. Used a prescription spray nightly for a year but with no change. Should I seek a Scan of the Lung/throat?
Thanks

[Paxiled]

I wouldn't put too much stock in one article on pub med.  They publish any research regardless of quality.  In many cultures, including China, they don't believe in drinking cold beverages as they believe it shocks the system because the body is warm.  They're traditional medicine suggests we only consume hot or warm beverages, and I don't recall reading that they suffer an inordinate amount of phlegm.  I'm thinking it's more a question of what and how you're drinking.  Especially if you've had reflux or an ulcer, that can leave the throat sensitive, and it's much easier to just be very careful how quickly you drink something or how much you're swallowing.  Try focusing on drinking more slowly and with patience and not swallowing large amounts and see if that helps.  Also focus on whether it happens more with certain things you're drinking than others, which might indicate a food intolerance or allergy.  When we drink in a way our throat dislikes, we cough, and when we cough, we expectorate.  I can't know this, but that's what happened to me following having a bleeding ulcer and it's been that way ever since.  So just a suggestion.

[Paxiled]

I would just mention, one paper on pub med isn't necessarily useful.  They publish everything, so it might have been a study much too small to conclude anything.  I say this because many cultures, particularly China, they don't believe in drinking anything cold.  They believe rightly or wrongly that this since the body is warm it's a shock to it to drink cold drinks.  They've been doing this forever and not getting any phlegm from it.  I'm going to guess it's more likely it's what you're drinking or how you're drinking that is the problem rather than the temperature, but I wouldn't rule out seeing a doc if you can't fix it on your own.  A lot of people have minor irritations of the throat especially if they suffer from an ulcer or reflux, but the treatment for it isn't worth it.  You just get used to it.  That can cause you to cough, and coughing can cause you to cough up stuff.  You might try paying more attention to how you drink, such as how fast you drink or whether you're swallowing too much for you to handle and whether just taking smaller sips and going slower might not fix the problem.  Also, see if it happens more with certain drinks that with other ones.  That might indicate an allergy to what you're drinking more than the temperature.  But I really obviously can't know for sure.  Peace.

[specialmom]

You're not crazy.  Drinking hot liquid especially can increase phlegm.  This is the conclusion of this paper about that topic: "We conclude that drinking hot fluids transiently increases nasal mucus velocity in part or totally through the nasal inhalation of water vapor."  Something called nasal mucus velocity comes into play with the temperature of the liquid you drink. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/359266/  I wouldn't make an appointment specifically for this but next time you get a physical, mention it to your doctor.