Resolved question:
Hi, I am a 21 year old female and I have been having severe throat pain for over a week now. It first began with difficulty swallowing, I couldn't even swallow my own saliva without being in major pain. For a couple of nights I felt like I had fever; but not sure if it was. My body ached, I had a throbbing headache and my throat just hurt a lot. Those were the first few symptoms. Then over the weekend all the effects subsided except for my aching throat, which still hurt a bit. I began to have a lot of congestion in the beginning of this week and the congestion led to me to not be able to swallow very well, for I felt like choking every time I swallowed my saliva. Gradually those symptoms went away and now I have severe throat pain in only my right side of my throat, where it is difficult to swallow my own saliva. I feel a bump on the outside of my rights side of my throat and the more I touch it and press on it, the more it becomes irritated and hurts my throat. What do you think I have and how concerned should I be about it?
Cristina
Submitted:
4 Days
Category:
Family Physician-GP
Hello. Thank you for posting your query at DoctorSpring.com
I understand your concern.
Throat pain in acute cases like these can be attributed to acute pharyngitis. It sometimes also involves the tonsils, hence the pain becomes severe. Did you take any medicine for the same? Did you have fever at any point? Since it was associated with body pain, it points towards a bacterial infection and hence you need treatment for the same. Kindly start the following medicines and you can expect recovery in 2-3 days time :
1) Tab. Amoxycillin-Clavulanic Acid 650 mg two tablets daily 1-0-1 for 5 days.
2) Tab. Tylenol, one tablet SOS, if you develop fever/ myalgia.
Apart from these, i want you to do saline water gargling at least 2-3 times a day. This is probably the best method for recovery from throat infection and pain in the acute stages.
It is possible that the bump you're feeling, can be an enlarged lymph node, which is possible in infective conditions and will be alright once you take the medicines.
If it is not settling in 2 days time, it is better to get yourself examined by a local ENT specialist.
Regards.
Hi again,
Thank you so much for answering my answer last week. I ended up going to the clinic that next morning and was uncorrectly diagnosed with strep throat. That doctor prescribed to me some antibiotics which did not work at all and I ended up going to the E.R. that evening. They then told me I had tonsilitis and gave me antibiotics and a steriod shot for it. After a little over 24 hours of not going away, I ended up back at the E.R. with extreme throat-tonsil pain. After getting a CAT scan, I was diagnosed with a peritonsillar abscess. They had to inject it out and then I felt a whole lot better. I am on antibiotics for 10 days and have been feeling great. I was supposed to go back for a check up to the clinic but my insurance didnt cover it so I haven't. Do you know if there is anything I should be watching for or anything I should be worried about in particular so that I don't get the infection again?
Thank,
Cristina
Hello.
Thank you for the follow up.
Since you have been feeling great and they initiated appropriate antibiotics at the right time, there is nothing to worry about. Once it resolves, it has a recurrence rate of only 10 % in patients who also have a concurrent chronic tonsillitis, and who are immunocompromised, since there is a source of infection in the throat all the time.
So in your case, there is nothing to worry about.
Feel free to discuss further,
Regards.
Thanks again.
Hello.
Wish you a speedy recovery!
Regards.
HI Dr Deepu Sebin Sebastia,
I had been feeling fine in regards to my throat since I got the abscess removed. Unfortunately, this morning I woke up with a pain in my throat located on the same side where my abscess was last month and I am slowly developing sick symptoms. I feel as if the infection is coming back even though I took the necessary precautions last time. I took a look at the back of my throat and I see a small ball developing where my abscess was, as well as feeling some swelling on my throat. I was supposed to take my tonsils out after they removed my abscess but with lack of money, I have been unable to do so.
Is there anything that can be done for this infection or should I seek medical attention?
Thanks,
Cristina
Hello.
Thank you for the follow up.
I will advise you get yourself evaluated by the doctor who drained your abscess. Even though the chances of recurrent abscess is low, it can't be ruled out completely. Especially for people who get chronic tonsillitis and throat infections, most doctors prefer simultaneous tonsillectomy along with the drainage of abscess. So you may need to discuss the possibility of getting your tonsils removed if it keeps happening like that. Since you just finished a course of antibiotics it won't be prudent to start you on a new regimen without finding out the exact cause of infection. So kindly get yourself evaluated.
Regards.