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What are painful lumps causing a sore throat likely to be?



Age: 22

Sex: Male

Non-smoker

Length of complaint: A few months possibly

Not on any medication, I do get dust allergy and often breath through mouth

Main symptom: Sore throat, hot ear, light ear pain

Pictures of area: [https://imgur.com/a/1K8BuRT] https://imgur.com/a/1K8BuRT

I've had on and off sore throats for the past few months and a slightly yellow/white tongue. I went to the dentist a month ago and they saw nothing wrong with my tongue. The last couple of days the throat pain has returned again but I have no other symptoms of cold/flu and feel otherwise perfectly fine.

Today, I noticed that on one side of where the tongue joins the mouth at the bottom of the palatoglossal arch in front of the tonsil there were lots of little sore lumps both on the arch and a bit on the tongue. They were especially painful when I touched them and even bled a little.

On the other side in the same place there is one larger rounded lump and a couple of smaller ones. They're all mostly colourless as pictured. I don't know whether these are new or have been there a long time as the tongue normally hides them.

I was wondering what they could be and whether I should go to the dentist to ask?

Any comments/thoughts are much appreciated,

Thanks
1 Responses
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973741 tn?1342342773
It is hard to say from a picture, for sure.  I would try not to touch and mess with them as that can increase the chance they are irritated and actually add to the pain.  So, try not to touch.  It does tend to be bumpy back there. Most of the time we don't spend a lot of time looking so ya, it very well could have been like that. But you have pain.  So, that should be dealt with.  Have you heard of oral thrush? That is basically yeast overgrowth of the mouth and throat.  I would think a dentist would recognize it but maybe it wasn't full blown then.  But you do sound to have the symptoms of this.  Here is some information.  https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/oral-thrush/symptoms-causes/syc-20353533  It can cause the discomfort you feel as well as the appearance you are seeing.  Can you go to a regular primary care doctor or an ENT?  That would be best to find out. They will swab the area and then give you a definitive answer.  If it is bacteria as well, they'll be able to tell you. And then you can treat it.  I also think something you can try to see if it helps is to gargle salt water. I personally gag when doing that and can't but my husband swears by it.  Let me know what you think.
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