Mucous Plug in a Trach Tube

Home care

Follow these guidelines when caring for yourself at home:

• Unless your doctor has put you on a fluid-restricted diet, make sure you are drinking plenty of fluids. This means 6 to 8 glasses a day.

• Keep your airway clear by coughing throughout the day.

• Suction your trach tube as advised to by your doctor. Do this as often as your doctor suggests.

• Moisten the air that you breathe as directed by your doctor. You can use a humidifier, particularly in the room you sleep in at night. This is especially important when it's hot and dry out, or when it's cold and you have the heat on.

• Carry an extra trach tube with you in case one tube gets blocked.

Follow-up care

Follow up with your doctor, or as advised.

Call 911

Call 911 if:

• You have shortness of breath, trouble breathing, or wheezing that doesn't get better with suctioning or breathing treatments.

• You have a blocked trach tube that you can't clear with suctioning.

• The trach tube falls out and you can't put one back in.

When to get medical advice

Contact your doctor right away if you have:

• A fever of 100.4°F (38°C) or higher, or as directed by your doctor.

• Severe, prolonged coughing spells.

• Red, painful, or bleeding stoma.

• Swelling of the skin around the stoma.

• Coughing up yellow, smelly, bloody, or thick mucus.

• A change in the color of your mucus.

• Sweaty, clammy skin.