1. It Feels Like Mucus. That Doesn't Mean It Is.
You clear your throat. Swallow. Sip some water. Ten minutes later it's back, like something is stuck right where it shouldn't be.
So you get the usual explanations. Post-nasal drip. Allergies. Stress. Try a nasal spray. Stop clearing so much.
If you've lived with it, you know those never quite fit. Water doesn't wash it away. Allergy pills don't touch it. It doesn't feel wet. It feels coated, tight and raw.
There's a reason for that, and it's not in your head.
Your throat has its own thin protective layer, a barrier that keeps everything else off the tissue underneath. In silent reflux research, scientists aren't only looking at what comes up from the stomach. They're looking at what it does to that layer once it lands.
That changes the question. Not "how do I clear more mucus?" but "what keeps irritating the tissue underneath?"
The answer most people have never been given isn't acid.
It's an enzyme.
