Blood in mucus should alert you to the occurrence of nasopharyngeal cancer

Blood in the mucus means that there is blood in the sputum when you breathe in your nose, which is also called back-aspiration blood in the mucus. Blood in the mucus often occurs after getting up in the morning, but not every day. If it is accompanied by tinnitus, hearing loss, headache, blockage and other symptoms, nasopharyngeal cancer should be considered.

Uncle Li used to work in a printing factory, dealing with ink and paper all day long. He just retired a few years ago and thought he could enjoy his retirement. However, he was diagnosed with nasopharyngeal cancer a while ago, and it was already in the late stage. Later, Uncle Li recalled that he had actually realized that there was something wrong with his health a long time ago.

A few months ago, Uncle Li discovered that he tended to have a lot of runny nose after getting up in the morning, and that the runny nose contained blood. However, the amount of blood was not large and it did not occur every day, so he did not take it seriously. Unexpectedly, it was caused by nasopharyngeal cancer.

In fact, blood in the mucus is the most common symptom of nasopharyngeal carcinoma. According to surveys, about 70% of patients will experience this symptom. So what causes blood in the mucus of nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients?

First of all, this is related to the location of the nasopharynx. The nasopharynx is located behind the nasal cavity and above the oral cavity, and is connected to the nasal cavity and oral cavity. Therefore, once a tumor appears in the nasopharynx, when the patient inhales vigorously or blows his nose, the rapid airflow will rub the small blood vessels on the surface of the tumor, causing them to rupture and cause bleeding.

Therefore, when there is blood in the mucus for no apparent reason like Uncle Li, you should be vigilant and get checked early to rule out the risk of nasopharyngeal cancer.