Hello everyone. First and foremost:
Make sure you get a referral for an ENT. This is the only type of doctor that can rule out cancers in the ears, nose, and throat. It is NEVER bad to be cautious as early detection is ALWAYS your best chance! If you have the means to get medical care, DO NOT PUT IT OFF. If you don’t, find a way to get an MRI of the head and neck to rule out masses.
That being said, I have the same thing and they have found a mass in my nasopharynx on a CT of my head to try and diagnose my extreme vertigo and dizziness. They hope it is just a polyp, but because of my blood work results, they have to do a biopsy to rule out Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma (NPC cancer). NPC cancer is rare, especially in the US where I live, but there’s many factors that can make you much more likely to form NPC cancer (please research this yourself).
So the nasopharynx is where these “clumps” come from. For years I’ve been dislodging hardened mucus from behind and above the soft pallet (the area between your nose and throat). I don’t recommend this to anyone as it is a choking hazard, but I’ve always used my abundance of sterile long swabs I need for my caretaker duties to dislodge them. It feels like there’s always something in the back of your throat so I bend the swab 90 degrees and gently scrape behind the soft pallet to dislodge the hardened mucus “plugs” that get stuck there. I have chronic sinusitis so the post nasal drip from that thick mucus is always building up there. However, now I have a confirmed mass in the exact spot where NPC cancer forms and my symptoms have gotten worse (including producing those fibrous masses as you all have shown, along with throat and nose bleeds). Now I realize why my “mucus plugs” always come out with a crater shape.
I have been a smoker for 25 years so I am preparing myself for the bad news, but I am praying it will just be a polyp. I have no health insurance so I had to apply for a community hospital program just to get treatment, which is the only reason I never sought treatment before my symptoms became debilitating. So now I’m stuck waiting almost a year for an appointment with the specialist as I suffer with these symptoms. I have chronic headaches, neck aches, jaw pain, mild bleeding in the throat, and uncontrollable dizziness. My vertigo started a year ago and my chronic headaches started 2 months ago. I have always suffered with chronic sinusitis, but it was so clear that this was something different. I had to advocate for myself to make them take me seriously because (as per usual) my entire right sinus cavities were complete occluded. I’ve dealt single and bilateral nasal blockage for decades because I have poorly formed pathways in my skull (very narrow nasal passages, nonexistent teeth roots, extremely narrow ear pathways, etc.). My anatomy is the perfect storm to form infections of all kinds (such as the chronic ear infections I’ve had since I was a baby). I’ve had mastoiditis twice in the last 18 months (a very serious ear infection). But since I’ve dealt with these issues my whole life, it wasn’t until I had my debilitating dizziness that I felt something was really wrong (despite having those mucus plugs for over 5 years now). I feel like fool for not figuring out a way to get help sooner.
I have provided some photos of my recent nasopharyngeal discharges, which look very similar to what you all have posted. I also dislodge blood clots, even when my throat isn’t bleeding. However, I do frequently have the fleshy-looking white mucus I’ve seen in many photos on here. In my opinion, you can tell when it’s mucus because of its texture (gooey, slimy, stretchy like children’s slime) and when it’s flesh (fibrous, doesn’t stretch, tears apart like meat).
I hope my post helps all of you who are concerned get to the doctor ASAP. You MUST advocate for yourself if you know something is wrong. The entire reason I’m an unpaid caregiver without health insurance is because I alone take care of my brain damaged triplegic mother who begged doctors to believe she was having a stroke and was treated like a senile old woman with a migraine (opposed to the intelligent, 5 language speaking, RN of 40 years that she was who was having a MASSIVE Cerebellar Stroke). You know your body better than any doctor, so don’t give up until you have concrete answers.
I promise to post back when I have a diagnosis. Please pray for me!