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Have Swelling In Back Of Throat, Started During URI Treatment. Smoker, Had Taken Course Of Amoxicillin. Suggest?
Question: I have swelling in back of my throat. Onset about 3 weeks ago in the midst of getting over URI. Had palatine tonsils out several years ago. It went from barely noticing it to now it's all I feel. No pain. No bleeding. No trouble swallowing. No fever. Just frog in throat feeling that seems to come & go & rotate. & the visible swelling in back of throat on the back sides. It looks to be on tongue as when I stick out my tongue I can see the lumps/bumps somewhat if I look real well. I'm thinking the lingual tonsils, but I'm also a smoker so therefore I'm a bit worried. Did course of 10 amoxicillin w/no effect. There's 1 "ball" that is hard, but doesn't bleed when I feel it. The rest of the tissue behind it that's swollen is soft. No real redness, no white spots. Just swelling predominantly on the right side. No swollen lymph nodes either. Any info would be greatly appreciated. There is no visible lumps/bumps on outside of throat.
Hi and thank you so much for this query.
I am so sorry to hear about these swellings at the back of the mouth.
From all the information you have provided, this seems to have started during the URI. URI is an infection in the upper airways and the area just behind the tongue is part of the upper airways. it could have gotten swollen too and now just taking longer to return to its normal size. These are my thoughts. Also, you feel well and there are no life threatening findings right now that I will want to pursue aggressive investigations for. You should be calm and more observant.
You have provided so much information which makes e think this is not cancer(think you are more concerned about this because of your smoking status). Its rapid onset, bilateral, no pains, no associated lymph nodes etc and your age are not very much in favour of such a diagnosis at this time. However, we shall closely monitor this swelling. Though I am confident it would sooner than later regress in size, let's not just loose sight of it and miss out on something more concerning if at all.
Also, you can see how anxious you become because you are also a smoker. Smoking causes great damage to your health and has nothing but a short term satisfaction that in no way helps the individual in the long run. If you have considered quitting, please talk to your doctor. But at least for now, cutting down on the number of cigarettes per day would be a great idea. Please, do not take any more antibiotics. if it is something at its very beginning, we shall have more answers with close monitoring!
I hope this is helpful and addresses your query. if you have any further questions related to this, please feel free to ask me and I will gladly address them.
I wish you the best of health.
Dr. Ditah, MD
I am so sorry to hear about these swellings at the back of the mouth.
From all the information you have provided, this seems to have started during the URI. URI is an infection in the upper airways and the area just behind the tongue is part of the upper airways. it could have gotten swollen too and now just taking longer to return to its normal size. These are my thoughts. Also, you feel well and there are no life threatening findings right now that I will want to pursue aggressive investigations for. You should be calm and more observant.
You have provided so much information which makes e think this is not cancer(think you are more concerned about this because of your smoking status). Its rapid onset, bilateral, no pains, no associated lymph nodes etc and your age are not very much in favour of such a diagnosis at this time. However, we shall closely monitor this swelling. Though I am confident it would sooner than later regress in size, let's not just loose sight of it and miss out on something more concerning if at all.
Also, you can see how anxious you become because you are also a smoker. Smoking causes great damage to your health and has nothing but a short term satisfaction that in no way helps the individual in the long run. If you have considered quitting, please talk to your doctor. But at least for now, cutting down on the number of cigarettes per day would be a great idea. Please, do not take any more antibiotics. if it is something at its very beginning, we shall have more answers with close monitoring!
I hope this is helpful and addresses your query. if you have any further questions related to this, please feel free to ask me and I will gladly address them.
I wish you the best of health.
Dr. Ditah, MD
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
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