sore throat and neck, white spot on tonsils - Open to All Other Health Topics Message Board

purple2067 · 04-09-2003, 09:56 PM

Hello all

I am hoping that somebody can answer my questions... Over the past few days I have been feeling like my glands (or something else in that area!) are swollen. My throat hurts on the left side and I have a pain in the front of my neck, which starts right above my collar bone and goes almost up to my chin and around to the left side a little bit. I also have a low grade fever (100.6). My neck is sore in general though, probably from stress. I saw my allergist today and he looked in my throat and felt my neck... he said that although he could see a small white spot on my tonsils, nothing else looked out of the ordinary and my glands are fine. What I want to know is this: Can the pain I am having in my neck be all muscular? Or is it possible to have a red throat that is far enough down where the dr cannot see, and can that be causing the pain in the front of my neck? Also, why would I have a low-grade fever if I don't have some sort of throat infection?

Should I go see my ear nose and throat specialist tomorrow?

Also, I get these white spots on my tonsils quite often. I know that they are not pockets of food like other people have mentioned. I only get a bad taste in my mouth when I have a post-nasal drip from my sinuses. Usually if I have a sore throat, one or more of these spots is on my tonsils. They go away just as mysteriously as they come. Sometimes they last for a day, sometimes a week or more. Does anybody have any clue as to what the heck these things are? I have been getting them for years, but nobody has ever cultured them because usually by the time I get to go to the ENT specialist it is gone. (my mom has learned how to look in my throat so she is usually the one who sees them) Most of the time when I do have them and I get to see the dr, it is my internist and not the ENT specialist, and my internist can't scrape them and culture them.

I am actually hoping that the next time I see my ENT specialist, one of these spots will be there and he can scrape it and culture it to see what the heck it is.

Sorry for all of the questions, I am just thoroughly confused! If anybody can offer some suggestions I would really appreciate it! Thank you,

Elyse

[This message has been edited by purple2067 (edited 04-10-2003).]

chiron · 04-10-2003, 06:12 AM

I have had throat problems associated with sinus drainage and tonsils all my life, including the white spots while in college. I found that the regular use of an antiseptic mouthwash after brushing my teeth helps control these minor infections. As for the soreness, I generously rub down my neck and throat area with a quality analgesic. For major problems with throat infections I see a physician as soon as possible because they generally lead to respiratory problems for me.

Starbuk498 · 04-10-2003, 06:49 AM

Purple,

Sorry to hear about your throat problems. As for the white spots on your tonsils, If I were you, I would make an appointment with the doctor very soon. The white spots are usually an indication of strep throat. And strep can spread to other organs, so please make an appointment as soon as possible to rule that out.

best of luck and hope you feel better,
Stefanie

purple2067 · 04-10-2003, 02:57 PM

Thanks. I actually feel better today. My throat really doesn't hurt anymore. With these white spots, I have them one day and they are gone the next. I am thinking that it is something viral but my dr was never able to culture them. In february I had a sinus infection and strep at the same time. My dr cultured some of the mucus that I was coughing up and the strep was actually in the mucus, which indicated to him that I had it all the way down in my throat as well as in my sinuses. The thing is though, I had previously been on an anti-biotic (Avelox) and it did NOTHING! So my ENT specialist prescribed Ceftin for 10 days, and that got rid of it. I am not one to wait around when I don't feel well... if I get sick I go to the dr. And yesterday my allergist looked in my throat and said he didn't see anything abnormal except for the white spot, and that my throat wasn't even red. My neck also feels better today, so I am not going to run to the dr unless I start to feel worse again.

Now with these white spots, they don't only occur when I have strep. So does anybody have any clue what they could be caused by? Sometimes they do stick around and then I usually have a tonsil infection, but that is pretty rare for me.

cherok · 04-10-2003, 06:01 PM

I had the same condition s a wlittle while ago. I dont quite remember what it was called but the doc presribed some pills to me and over a couple of days the swelling in the throat and inflamed tonsils went away