Bruise On Back That Pained. Pleurisy? Why Did My Nasal Cavity Start To Hurt With Yellow Mucus? Is It A Sinus Infection?

Posted on Tue, 17 Jul 2012

Question: Hi, it all started Around 5 months ago, maybe longer, when I got a pain in my back, rather severe at the time, it hurt like a big giant bruise every time I took a XXXXXXX breath, they told me it was pleurisy. The pain slowly died down and is bearable but still there. So I asked the doctor for some kind of pain relief, and my symptoms should have cleared by now. That's when I started getting a pain in my left nasal cavity, a pinpointed pain, it seemed to make me spit out bloody yellow mucus, then I was told I had a sinus infection, so I got anti biotics which after the five days of, cleared it up for about a day, then it kept happening, and my throat started getting sore and I was getting a strange pain in my throat, the doctor said clean it with nostril cleaner, and there's no more blood at least, and now I have bumps on the very back of my tongue almost in my throat and a bit of a red patch on the top in the middle of my tongue that likes to bleed a little bit. I keep thinking that I have cancer.. Please help

I forgot to add that with the pain in my back it had developed a slight burning pain around my lung, happens occasionally and isn't a persistent pain but it happens along with sharp pains in both sides of my chest

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (2 hours later)

Hi,
Thanks for writing in.
We should be looking at several possibilities given your symptoms. While infection or an autoimmune process is the most likely cause, cancer is a possibility that we would like to rule out in your case. This can be done by examining your nose with a nasoscope and taking a biopsy of the tongue lesion and the pleural fluid ( if we can find any using an ultrasound)
While nasopharyngeal cancer can cause these symptoms, it is common in Chinese and Asians and in people who have a lot of alcohol. Also, since your nose has stopped bleeding, it goes against the possibility of this cancer.
Other possibilities we should be looking at is recurrent sinusitis leading to local lymphadentis and Wegener's granulomatosis.
In all, your first step should be to see an ENT surgeon so that a complete history and exam can be done. A course of antibiotics should also be started for atleast 1 week. Appropriate tests like a CT scan need to be done so that we know what is the main cause of your symptoms.
Let me know if you need more help.
Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Aparna Kohli

Follow up: Dr. Ram Choudhary (25 hours later)

What are the chances it's Wegeners? Does it explain my symptoms? And do you think that my symptoms are linked? Or do I just have a string of bad luck? As you can tell I'm quite worried since its been unexplained for some time and I've had no relief. I've got an appointment for an ENT Dr in about 2 or 3 weeks.

Answered by Dr. Ram Choudhary (7 hours later)

Hi and thanks again.

Wegener's disease is a rare disease. So I consider this possibility rare.

Just have an examination by an ENT surgeon in person. It will give valuable clues.

Hope this answers your query. Let me know if you have any other concerns.

Regards

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad