My sore throat hasn’t improved, but it has changed quite a bit over the course of the last two and a half weeks. It started out in the far back of the mouth, what I think is called the pharynx. I suspect it’s a result of post-nasal drip brought on by allergies. It’s gone away and come back and moved. Now it’s way down in my throat, the larynx I believe. Or maybe it’s the trachea, but larynx is fun to say.
It feels swollen, like a walnut is lodged down there. This is only over the last three days.
I normally wouldn’t seek medical attention for a sore throat, but this is starting to concern me, so today I called around to some Ear, Nose and Throat specialists. They were all closed because it’s Good Friday.
I would have called my personal physician, but of course he stopped taking my insurance a couple years ago.
So I decided to seek help from a “convenient care clinic.” I found one, Take Care Health Services, that’s on my plan and only a couple miles away at 1826 N Broad. I called the national toll-free number to make sure the place was open.
But when I got to that address, I discovered it was a Walgreens. Apparently all the clinics for Take Care Health Services are located in Walgreens. I’ve heard of such things but never actually availed myself so I was a little confused at first. I grew even more confused when I went in to the damn Walgreens and couldn’t find a health clinic anywhere. A pharmacist informed me that there was no clinic; it would be opening soon but the date had been pushed back.
I went back to the car and called the national toll-free number for Take Care Health Services to apprise them of this fact. They directed me to the nearest Take Care Health Services location that is actually open, which turned out to be in Marrero.
So I drove across the river and eventually I was talking to a nurse practitioner. He suspected my sore throat was a result of post-nasal drip brought on by allergies, and he noted the pollen levels were setting records. (Our front porch is covered by a thick blanket of green oak pollen.) He recommended getting on a 24-hour antihistamine, and to take some painkillers for the soreness.
When I pointed out that the soreness was way down in my throat, he advised me to see an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist.
Will Obama’s health care reform fix this inanity? Perhaps Congress could mandate that ENTs should not take Good Friday as a holiday. Maybe we could outlaw pollen while we’re at it. And sore throats.
Zand’s Tree trea oil throat spray.
WHen you post about ailments, you risk unsolicited advice on home remedies. That’s my advice. It’s amazing. It may not cure you, but it will give you relief.
When my throat gets sore I make some hot buttered toast & eat it, not thoroughly chewed so when I swallow, it scrapes when going down the ol’ gullet. It’s like scratching a bad itch. It usually helps, if it’s more of a germy thing, rather than an allergy — who knows?
Garlic helps, too.
I had the same thing, but I let it go on too long so it became bronchitis. While I got some antibiotics for that, the OTC stuff included Mucinex DM (maximum strength), ample use of a neti pot and saline solution, and two-three times daily gargle with Listerine (to stave off strep infection).
My $0.02, FWIW.
I was completely unaware of this syndrome two years ago when I visited a doc-in-the-box with what I swore as tonsillitis. Extremely uncomfortable, and I could not BELIEVE it was just allergies and “drainage” (post-nasal drip). But I had no fever. Did you?
He prescribed Claritin-D, and performed an allergy screen via blood: slight allergy to dust. I returned to normal in a few days…
I had no other symptoms to speak of. No fever. I’m on the Wal-itin generic for Claritin, and after four days my sore throat is pretty much completely gone.
I like Pelican Health Care out in Elmwood. They correctly diagnosed me with pnuemonia a few years ago and seemed pretty good. I also have a variation on the buttered toast– popcorn. Salty and slightly scratchy…
[…] family doctor prescribed fluticasone propionate nasal spray last year, after the great Good Friday healthcare debacle. (Yes, he started taking my insurance again.) This seems to have stopped allergy-engendered […]