Mucus and Tissues

Having just recovered from a two week illness, I realize that I spent a lot of that time thinking about mucus.

Yes, it is not the most pleasant of topics, but one that I want to discuss briefly.

As I used up hankie after hankie attempting to rid my sinuses of this stuff, I wondered why (and how!) I could produce so much in just one day.

I found this article on eHow.com: How Does Mucus Production Occur.
and found out that 'adults produce around 4 cups of mucus each day just from the sinus cavities and nose. It is also produced in other parts of the body. Mucus flows from the nasal passages down the throat, to the stomach."

Yuck.

And that is under normal circumstances.

"Also, as one of the roles of mucus is to remove particles, mucus production is stimulated by airway infection and irritation." So that hayfever, or allergy, or cold will allow your body to increase its mucus production. As long as there is irritation, there will be excess mucus.

Well, I found it difficult to bring enough hankies with me to school, so I resorted to a box of tissues. I have not purchased or used tissues in more than a year so I had to search for a box that I knew I had hanging around in my car. It was rather crushed, but the tissues were quite serviceable.

Unfortunately, I used that box up in a day. The next day, I raided the classroom stash of tissues and worked my way through that box.

At night, I used my Seventh Generation Toilet Paper until I washed the hankies. Unfortunately, my nose did not like the TP. After half a roll, I had a rather sore nose. I did a load of hankies and since those are much softer than my TP, my nose was a bit happier.

I realized that I love my hankies much better than my TP for managing my mucus. I also am now in a situation where I no longer have a spare box of tissues hanging around. I wonder what will happen when the next excess mucus producing event occurs!