Ask:
White Lumps on Back of Tongue
Hi
I have had an issue with relatively painless white lumps on the back of my tongue for about 6 months now. I am male, 33 y.o. and consider myself to be relatively healthy except that I smoke. I will take you through a chronology of what I have experienced (in some detail as it has bothered me for long enough now):
1. late jan 07 - suffered a severe sore throat for approximately 2 days. Exteme difficulty swallowing but my tonsils were unaffected and the glands in my neck were normal. It cleared up after a couple of days but some symptoms continued as follows:
2. feb 07 - occasional low grade (annoying) sore throat on and off, white lumps noted at the back of my tongue, discomfort while swallowing. I always wake up with a dry throat - this gets better throughout the day.
3. March 07 - Gave up smoking cold turkey. Sought a doctor's advice who put me on a course of antibiotics and sent me off for blood tests (which revealed nothing). Antibiotics didn't seem to do anything and the symptoms continued albeit with less regular sore throat episodes. Doctor also gave me Olbas oil to take before sleep - this didn't seem to reduce the dryness of my throat in the mornings and I am confident that I am breathing through my nose whilst asleep. Even when I first lie down in bed and breath through my nose with my mouth closed, I begin to feel the dryness develop in my throat. Two weeks later I re-visited the same doctor and had more blood tests for allergies. Nothing came up in the tests except that I am at risk of developing gout - I have a family history of this.
4. April - June 07 - White lumps are still there although not causing as much discomfort (maybe I was just getting used to them??). Unfortunately I resumed smoking again, although I didn't notice any reduced symptoms when I gave up for 4 weeks.
5. July 07 - last week - visited doctor (a different one) after having flu-like symptoms (sore throat and sneezing often, I usually wake up with a lot of phlegm in the back of my throat). She gave me an anti-fungal medication after I suggested that it might be fungal. I have almost completed this course of medication but with no reduction in my symtoms. Doctor noted that there was a lot of redness in my throat but my tonsils were unaffected. They referred me to a mouth-throat specialist who I am planning to see as soon as they can 'fit me in'.
One other thing...I did actually scrape off one of these lumps on my tongue - one that was towards the middle of my tongue more so I could reach and observe it more easily. It bled a little and there is now a tiny reddish 'scar' still there after several months.
Any ideas on what could be causing my symptoms?
Many thanks
HF1
Answer:
White Lumps on Back of Tongue
Curious if your Dr. did a throart culture?
Answer:
White Lumps on Back of Tongue
Hi Purple98Lady.
No, neither doctor did a throat culture.