What the color of your snot means

Green

Green mucus means that the infection is a bit stronger. The green coloring means that lots of white blood cells have been working overtime to fight the infection. The infection will eventually go away, but if your snot is still showing up green after 10-12 days, talk to your health care provider.

While yellow and green are the most common colors we usually see when we have allergies or are fighting an infection like a cold, we may occasionally run into some other colors.

Red or pink

Red or pink snot means blood, but don’t be alarmed.

“Blood in your mucus is most often caused by irritation of the nasal tissues. This often occurs with viral infections or allergies due to frequent nose blowing or use of nasal sprays that may cause the tissues to become dry,” Alyssa said.

“As long as it’s a relatively small amount of blood mixed with mucus, it’s not something to fret over. If bleeding is continuous and does not stop with pressure, you should be evaluated by a health care provider.”

Brown

Similarly, brown snot is likely a sign that you had a cut in your nasal passage at some point that has since healed. Dried blood usually shows up brown, so your mucus is probably just mixed with old blood.

Black

Black snot can mean a few different things. People who smoke will sometimes notice black snot because of the chemicals they inhale while smoking.

Black snot can also appear if you’ve been working in an environment with dust or dirt. In that case, your body is just doing its job to get rid of whatever irritants made their way into your nose, and the mucus will clear out the dust, soot or dirt naturally. However, black snot can also mean a serious fungal infection. If the black snot doesn’t go away, talk to your health care provider right away to get to the bottom of it.