Phlegm

Today, I kept getting phlegm , and its hard to like cough up , i was almost gagging to get it out. There happened to be some brown stuff in it. I thought it was like pop, or food. But i brushed my teeth and i found it still there. I noticed it was sticking to the back of my throat, and its hard to cough up, or how ever.
It's really bothering.
Could something be wrong?

[Paderla Anitha, DNB]

Hello and hope you are doing well.

The symptoms described could be due to an infection, most probably streptococcal or a viral infection. Strep sore throat needs to be treated with an antibiotic as strep is a bacteria. Viral sore throat is best treated with rest, warm oral fluids and  (OTC) tylenol (acetaminophen) or ibuprofen for pain. If you develop a fever, or if there is enlargement of the tonsils with pain or if there is white coating on the tonsils, you will need to consult your primary care physician for a strep test, which if positive you will be given antibiotics.

Hope this helped and do keep us posted.