I woke up Sunday morning feeling as though I needed to clear my throat (you know, like when there is an "oyster" in there!). As I did so, I felt something sort of come loose, and lie on top of my tongue. I could neither spit it out nor swallow it down, even post repeated tries. I got my black bag and went before a mirror, and to my surprise found that my uvula had grown to nearly the size of my thumb! It was HUGE, and looked to be full of bubbly mucus, although its exterior surface was smooth, moist and continuous.
I had heard of this before, but never seen it. In case the darned thing was going to impede my airway (it was already stimulating my gag reflex) I called the ER and asked for an Attending Physician (doctors can do that), in case I had to come in emergently. It was one of my trainers, and she and I discussed it for a few minutes, so she would know what was going on if I showed up unable to speak. I rousted my girlfriend who, immediately upon viewing this monstrosity began jumping up and down and waving her arms around. We then proceded to her house, which is only a block or so from the hospital (which was also VERY convenient during Internship!).
The condition is called uvulitis (inflammation of the uvula). It affects mostly young, healthy males, and may be caused by infection, allergic reaction (i.e. NSAIDS or ACE-I's usually), or toxic exposure. Since I saw no obvious signs of infection (including fever) I leaned toward one of the latter causes, but still laid in some Augmentin (antibiotic) just in case. I also took 50mg of Benadryl and 60mg of prednisone. After relaxing for a few hours-- the best I could with a sausage clogging my throat-- the swelling began to subside. By the next morning, things had pretty much resumed the proportionality Nature intended.
Who knows what caused it. It's just one of those weird things that happen in life. Should any of you young, healthy men (or anyone else for that matter) experience this, please get yourself to a doctor ASAP.
I had heard of this before, but never seen it. In case the darned thing was going to impede my airway (it was already stimulating my gag reflex) I called the ER and asked for an Attending Physician (doctors can do that), in case I had to come in emergently. It was one of my trainers, and she and I discussed it for a few minutes, so she would know what was going on if I showed up unable to speak. I rousted my girlfriend who, immediately upon viewing this monstrosity began jumping up and down and waving her arms around. We then proceded to her house, which is only a block or so from the hospital (which was also VERY convenient during Internship!).
The condition is called uvulitis (inflammation of the uvula). It affects mostly young, healthy males, and may be caused by infection, allergic reaction (i.e. NSAIDS or ACE-I's usually), or toxic exposure. Since I saw no obvious signs of infection (including fever) I leaned toward one of the latter causes, but still laid in some Augmentin (antibiotic) just in case. I also took 50mg of Benadryl and 60mg of prednisone. After relaxing for a few hours-- the best I could with a sausage clogging my throat-- the swelling began to subside. By the next morning, things had pretty much resumed the proportionality Nature intended.
Who knows what caused it. It's just one of those weird things that happen in life. Should any of you young, healthy men (or anyone else for that matter) experience this, please get yourself to a doctor ASAP.
