How to treat a peritonsillar abscess?

So, you woke up with a sore throat and thought it would just go away like magic. But now the pain is unbearable, swallowing anything from puffy bread to melted butter hurts as hell. And what’s that lump in your throat? Gosh! It feels like someone shoved some cotton balls down there. Please don’t tell me you tried googling your symptoms, did ya?

Chances are, you might be suffering from a popular tonsil infection known as peritonsillar abscess. Don’t panic – this article has got your back by providing realistic treatment options for treating peritonsillar abscess.

Here’s everything you need to know about treating peritonsillar abscess:

What is Peritonsillar Abscess?

Before we jump into treatments of PTA aka ‘peritonsilar-crisis’, let us first understand what it actually is.

Peritooooooooo-what?

I know the name sounds fancy but allow me to explain it in simple terms; a Pari-ton-si-lur abscess aka Quinsy or Trench mouth (JK Jk) occurs when an infection of either bacteria or virus affects the area behind one of the two tonsils which later develops pus-filled pockets called ‘abscesses’.

Symptoms:

How can one be sure they have developed these painful little pouches at their tonsils anyway? Here’s something nobody asked for:

  • Sore Throat
  • Difficulty in opening mouth wide
  • Hot Potatoe Voice || Muffled Sound || Boozy bar voice

    One will sound drunk enough without falling.

  • Pain while Swallowing Little Evil Bites
    > Namely croissant jalepeno poppers

  • Pus formation near TONSILS

Whatever grossness cantake refuge in a human mouth!

  • Migraine Headache that Makes you want to smash door into the wall just so it puts some dent marks on it.

Causes

It’s time for everyone’s favorite topic: CAUSES!

So, what causes a Pari-ton-si-lur abscess?

There are two types of Abscess known as Primary and Secondary. Both have distinguishable reasons behind their existence.

Secondary Peritonsillar Abscess is caused by issues with tonsils while primary is caused by other extra nice bacteria like streptococcus

Some Common Reasons:

  1. Infections due to Streptococcus group A or B.
  2. Poor oral hygiene i.e not brushing teeth after eating sugar n spice and everything naughty
    3.Gargling rubbish
    4.Chronic sinusitis which sounds fancy but basically means hundreds of tissues all day long.
    5.Skipping your flu Shot
    6..Skin infection (fungal) nearby the throat area telling louder than siren what you need NOT to do.
    7.Viral infections such as cold, flu can also escalate things here pretty fast

To make sure this never happens again lets do discuss remedies that will smoothen these painful cave-like formations down there.

Natural/Home Remedies

Please don’t put your fate in someone else’s hand when you already have all-natural home-based remedies one could only dream of otherwise (insert wink emoji) Below mentioned are tested-and-approved treatment options:

P.S – DO NOT rely solely on home based treatments if inflammation persists continuously without any shrinking option available seeing an expert medical professional instead would be best decision ever made.

1- Salt Water Gargle:

We’ve been hearing about saltwater gargles every time we had sore throats since kindergarten But they actually work!

Just dissolve half-Monica(Gellar)-like tablespoon salt in warm water and gargle this solution while putting “o” face 2-3 times a day. You’ll notice instant relief whilst your inner Monica is beaming with pride.

2-Lemon Hone Tea:

Who wouldn’t want to treat peritonsillar abscess with sweet, zesty and soothing anti-inflammatory drink made from honey, tea and lemon? Add juice from half-squeezed lemons in boiling water mixed up lusciously well with golden treasure aka honey.

Drink it while imagining yourself serving the drink on a sunny afternoon to that special someone who finally flashed you back after god knows how rrriiight!

Let’s talk about some mainstream remedies too so no one has any doubts left:

Medicinal Treatment

Because modern-day medical science can’t just leave our patients at bae ease like ugh common cold flu here are few medicinal options available for treating Pari-ton-si-lur Crises:

  1. Antibiotics
    These little capsules of goodness come handy whenever there’s any bacterial infection around – in this case, Streptococcus present definitely takes hits by antibiotics roundhouse kicks when consumed accordingly as per prescriotion BEWARE RISKS INVOLVED WITH ANTIBIOTIC USAGE

Remember when Chris Pratt mentioned (Guardians of Galaxy) Drax The Destroyers salient qualities i.e tips chomping down incredible amount of food amongst others? Lets channel that energy my fellow patients and take meds regularly.

2.Taking NSAIDs or Non-Steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drugs also helps reduce inflammation Swallowing pain killers slowly dissociating into bloodstream ensuring their impact stays longer.

I have one request though:

Use drugs responsibly people!

Image Table Required

Abbreviation Name
NSAID Non-steroidal Anti Inflammatory Drug
PTA Peritonsillar Abscess

Surgical Intervention

By reaching this instance chances are the mere presence of tonsils is giving you nightmares- Hopefully, we won’t have to come to that but unfortunately necessary evil here.

  1. Needle Aspiration aka Ouch!
    Nobody prefers inserting any sharp things anywhere near their throat willingly; however, antibiotic usage may not always help due to pus being up there, so sometimes surgical interventions such as needle aspiration which sucks out the pus altogether might be suggested by medical professionals.

2.Tonsillectomy
This one right here might seem a scary option for most of us – removing something present in our body all along isn’t comfortable thought-after-all However if Primary source ABSCESS persists continuously over passage of time removing tonsil under Genral Anesthesia would be sometime an ENT Specialist could suggest.

Lets end it with prevention techniques collated/shered below:

Prevention Techniques:

As they say “prevention is better than cure”. Here are some tips on how you can reduce your risk of getting a peritonsillar abscess:

  • Maintaining good oral hygiene by brushing twice daily
  • Immediately treating instances where you get sprouts that itch or hurt for long durations.
  • Avoiding smoking/chewing if any substance intake increases possibility.

Here’s hoping this article helped and I wish everybody (including me) gets well soon without having anyone face-scrunching kind results ever again!

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