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Patients who complain of these symptoms are usually referring to a post nasal drip. This may be associated with other sinus symptoms such as nasal congestion, nasal obstruction, headaches or facial pain. More often if these other symptoms are present they are less of a problem to the patient who is more concerned by his or her “catarrh”.

Key points
This is the most difficult sinus symptom to treat.
- Discoloured or green mucus indicates infection in the sinuses and should be treated with antibiotics.
- In normal patients over 1 litre of mucus is produced by the sinuses which is carried to the back of the nose and swallowed.
- Explain to the patient that it is impossible to “turn off the tap”.
- This symptom has a poor outcome with topical steroid treatment and sinus surgery.

Simple advice
Drink lots of fluid and try and wash the mucus down. Strongly discourage hawking and clearing the throat as this only exacerbates the sensation of mucus being present in the throat.