A peritonsillar abscess is something you want to avoid in your life at all costs. I have had throat infections before, but nothing compared to how awful this infection was. My throat had been bothering me a little bit from sinuses, but this was not uncommon with the weather change. I do not believe that I had tonsillitis or any other type of infection prior to the formation of the abscess.
SYMPTOMS:
My symptoms were a severe sore throat that caused pain along my left jaw line, up into my left ear and across my forehead. I have relatively high fever and could barely even swallow my own saliva, which is quite frustrating for someone who’s favorite hobby is eating. I also talked like I had two golf balls in my throat, and I could not open my mouth very wide, to swallow or otherwise.
The abscess itself can be described as a huge pocket that hung down from the roof of my mouth, covering and encapsulating my left tonsil and pushing it towards the center of the back of my throat.
I went to the my university’s health center and the doctor looked at it for less than thirty seconds before diagnosing it as a throat infection and giving me a Z-Pak. I was a little flustered she did not spend more time because the abscess was there at the time of my visit. I was in bad pain on a Monday evening and went into the doctor Tuesday morning.
I got increasingly worse with more fever and more pain and reached the point where I legitimately could not eat. I went home to see my personal physician. He immediately said he was 99% sure it was an abscess and sent me to an ear, nose, and throat specialist. He confirmed the diagnosis and told me that he would have to drain the abscess.
APPREHENSION:
At this point, I am getting pretty apprehensive about this procedure because it sounds awful. There is talk of needles into the throat to drain the pus, and making incisions, etc. I think this is all relatively normal. The fear of the unknown bothers most people.
PROCEDURE:
The doctor first sprayed my throat with something to numb it partially before injecting me with what seemed like various shots into the abscess and the back of my throat. This was the worst part of the procedure because it was very painful and I have an awful gag reflex. I can already barely breathe and then you have tongue depressors and needles and who knows what else in my throat and I was really struggling.
After only a few seconds he lanced the abscess by making an incision and draining out the pus, via needle I guess? I am not certain. I was instructed to spit frequently after he finished this and there was quite a bit of blood and pus. I was fairly light-headed and almost fainted, but fortunately the nurses were very friendly and helped me by putting cold rags on my head and lifting the back of my shirt.
I was told that the doctor may want to take out my tonsils, but I was pretty adamant about the fact that I had not had any tonsil problems since I was kid and therefore he didn’t really mention it.
MEDICATION:
Since the procedure I have been gradually getting better, it has been a couple of days. The fever is almost all gone. I have been taking some pretty strong pain medicine that is helping, and quite a few doses of penicillin to fight the remainder of the infection.
It is still pretty painful if I go without the painkiller, particularly where the incision was made. Also, it is pretty awful in the morning when I get up because I have been having a hard time breathing I have been snoring loud and when I wake up my mouth is dry and my throat is sore and until my mouth gets lubricated everything cracks and hurts. I haven’t found a way to prevent this yet.
In conclusion, it does not seem that there is anyway to avoid this rare occurrence, but I assure you that you do not want a peritonsillar abscess. It is one of the most painful things I have ever experienced, and it is certainly accompanied by a pretty awful procedure to get rid of it. I am thankful that my doctors diagnosed it when they did and did a good job lancing the abscess.
Hopefully this article tells you what you need and/or want to know about the symptoms, procedure and the treatment if you get this unfortunate infection.
