Vicious sore throat
Discussion
joscal]r Murdoch said:
How bad is it.
Could it be tonsillitis, or even worse Quincy (although if it was this you wouldn't be able to swallow)[/quote
I had quincy as a teenager, bloody hell it was not pleasant! Ended up in hospital on an antibiotic drip as my Doctor misdiagnosed it 3 times.
I'm guessing you had a Quinsy, as Quincy is an American medical drama :-)Could it be tonsillitis, or even worse Quincy (although if it was this you wouldn't be able to swallow)[/quote
I had quincy as a teenager, bloody hell it was not pleasant! Ended up in hospital on an antibiotic drip as my Doctor misdiagnosed it 3 times.
For a bad sore throat, the local anaesthetic throat sprays do work well, or try some co-codamol with an anti-inflammatory (unless you have a reason not to take the latter - on blood thinners, renal failure, brittle asthma, dyspepsia, previous GI ulcers / bleeds.. and so on...)
Have a look down your throat with a mirror and a bright light. If you can see white flecks at the back it's probably tonsillitis. Tonsillitis can be caused either by virus or bacteria, so you probably need to find out which one it is before treating it.
Once when I had a particularly bad throat it turned out to be a massive mouth ulcer right on my dangly thing. Virtually the whole of my dangler was covered by the ulcer and it was very painful to swallow.
Once when I had a particularly bad throat it turned out to be a massive mouth ulcer right on my dangly thing. Virtually the whole of my dangler was covered by the ulcer and it was very painful to swallow.
AlexC1981 said:
Have a look down your throat with a mirror and a bright light. If you can see white flecks at the back it's probably tonsillitis. Tonsillitis can be caused either by virus or bacteria, so you probably need to find out which one it is before treating it.
Once when I had a particularly bad throat it turned out to be a massive mouth ulcer right on my dangly thing. Virtually the whole of my dangler was covered by the ulcer and it was very painful to swallow.
If you see the white flecks then it is likely to be bacterial tonsillitis and require antibiotics. No white flecks = no antibiotics. The number of times I've had to explain that to a GP Once when I had a particularly bad throat it turned out to be a massive mouth ulcer right on my dangly thing. Virtually the whole of my dangler was covered by the ulcer and it was very painful to swallow.
wiggy001 said:
If you see the white flecks then it is likely to be bacterial tonsillitis and require antibiotics. No white flecks = no antibiotics. The number of times I've had to explain that to a GP
Actually, that's wrong, despite most GPs actually believing it to be true! there is no reliable way to differentiate a viral from an bacterial tonsillitis simply by looking at the tonsils. Did you know for example that the condition that gives the most 'flecks' (we would call it exudate) is glandular fever, which is actually viral. Re the pencillin advice. They say that around 90-95% of sore throats will get better on its own, so the vast majority simply don't need antibiotics. Conversley, ENT specialists are noticing a far higher rate of quinsies since GP's cut down on the prescribing of antibiotics.
In conclusion there is no set criteria for giving antibiotics in tonsillitis, some GPs will hand them out like smarties, others are far more restrained. As a general rule however, if you are systemically unwell with a fever, are struggling to eat and drink, and have inflamed tonsils without symptoms of a viral upper respiratory tract infection, then most GPs would likely pdescribe antibiotics for you.
meddyg said:
wiggy001 said:
If you see the white flecks then it is likely to be bacterial tonsillitis and require antibiotics. No white flecks = no antibiotics. The number of times I've had to explain that to a GP
Actually, that's wrong, despite most GPs actually believing it to be true! there is no reliable way to differentiate a viral from an bacterial tonsillitis simply by looking at the tonsils. Did you know for example that the condition that gives the most 'flecks' (we would call it exudate) is glandular fever, which is actually viral. Re the pencillin advice. They say that around 90-95% of sore throats will get better on its own, so the vast majority simply don't need antibiotics. Conversley, ENT specialists are noticing a far higher rate of quinsies since GP's cut down on the prescribing of antibiotics.
In conclusion there is no set criteria for giving antibiotics in tonsillitis, some GPs will hand them out like smarties, others are far more restrained. As a general rule however, if you are systemically unwell with a fever, are struggling to eat and drink, and have inflamed tonsils without symptoms of a viral upper respiratory tract infection, then most GPs would likely pdescribe antibiotics for you.
NHS Website said:
If your tonsillitis is caused by a bacterial infection, they may prescribe antibiotics. Typical signs of a bacterial infection include white pus-filled spots on the tonsils, no cough and swollen or tender lymph glands.
No wonder we are confused if the GPs and the NHS are too!The NHS website is basing its information on the centor criteria. Unfortunately that is not very accurate, with a positive predictive value of only 40-60%. So essentially, if you have exudate and the other 3 criteria, there is still only around a 50% chance that the tonsillitis is bacterial. Roughly the same as flipping a coin.
I agree, this is an issue that confuses a lot of GPs.
I agree, this is an issue that confuses a lot of GPs.
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