What Causes Nasal Congestion And Irritated Papillae On The Sides Of My Tongue?

Posted on Thu, 23 Jan 2014

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Thu, 23 Jan 2014 Answered on

Tue, 11 Feb 2014 Last reviewed on

Question : femal 5'5 170lbs approx. I got a cold from my kids right before thanksgiving which led to me having the irritated papillae on the sides of my tongue mostly, that's where I've always got them. Due to this I kept accidentally biting my tongue on both sides. Flash forward to today, both sides of my tongue are swollen, I have a couple more irritated papillae and on each side in the middle of the swollen spot there is a tiny hole. I figure it's where the irritated little bugger fell off from. It is uncomfortable, some what painful, due to swelling I have those crack looking things on both sides.It is difficult for me to swallow, though at this point my throat doesn't seem to hurt too horribly bad though it does flame up at night time and I will get an annoying cough so I take Robitussin. When I try to swallow food it feels more like it's taking it's sweet time to go down my throat rather than sore. Almost like I have a dry mouth but I know I don't. I've been doing salt water gargles, oral gel for temporary relief, ibuprofen and baking soda to try and reduce the swelling. I also have nasal congestion and post nasal drip.

Answered by Dr. Srikanth Reddy (1 hour later)

Brief Answer: Need an antibiotic Detailed Answer: Hello, Thanks for choosing health care magic for posting your query. I have gone through your question in detail and I can understand what you are going through. From the description that you have given it appears that you are having a bad upper respiratory tract infection along with a sore tongue and probably apthous ulcers as well. Its good that you are already doing warm saline gargles. Along with that you will have to start an antibiotic such as cefexime or amoxycilline etc. The infection seems to be serious and you will certainly require antbiotic. Also take plenty of water and chewable tablets of Vit C which will help in healing. Hope I am able to answer your concerns. If you have any further query, I would be glad to help you. If not, you may close the discussion and if possible you may rate the answer for me, so that I get a good feedback. In future if you wish to contact me directly, you can use the below mentioned link: bit.ly/dr-srikanth-reddy Wish you good health, Kind regards Dr. Srikanth Reddy M.D.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Prasad