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for the last 2 days my dh has had a swelling in his neck/throat. its just over one side and it is very painful for him. he finds it hurts to move his jaw much as its just under the left side. this is the only bit of him that hurts though.. no where else and he feels well otherwise. but this is really knocking him about.
i will be taking him to the dr tomorrow but does anyone have any thoughts?
thanks liz
I could only think of a goiter. Google it, and there are lots of causes, from iodine deficiency to the thyroid not functioning correctly.
Hope its nothing to worry about.
I was thinking a swollen Lymph node. You can have these for a variety of reasons (such as a blocked lymph node or infection elsewhere in the body) I have had one for years but fortunately its not painful. No cause can be found for me just popped up one day and has never left.
Could be a goiter but goiters tend to be central to the neck more so then to one side. Hope you and DH finds out what it is and have some treatment for the pain.
well he went to the dr today and they aren't sure what it is. he is on strong antibiotics and they told him that if it doesn't start to feel better within 24-48 hrs to go to the dentist to find out if its an absess.
so i have a question as we are not with private health and we have 0 spare money.. seriously living week to week. is it possible to go to the public hospital to get an absess treated or is this something only a dentist will do. how do we pay if we have no money. most dentists don't let you pay them off anymore.
Aaaahhh.... I was going to suggest an abscess!! Was a dental nurse years ago, I'm now an ambo. Public hospitals (or private hospitals!) will not treat it, your DH needs to see a dentist. If the antibiotics are not successful in treating the infection (unfortunately they often reduce the severity but don't completely eliminate the problem) your DH will either need a root canal (to open the tooth and physically drain the pus :o) or an extraction (the abscess generally comes out on the root of the tooth and any pus left is able to drain). Root canal is muchos expensive. From your description of the location of the swelling, I'm guessing the abscess is on a molar (back tooth) which is far more common than on a front tooth. Molars have multiple roots and you are looking at somewhere round $1000 for a root canal (guesstimate, when I worked in dental approx 12 years ago it was about $700, plus GST and inflation! Have a friend who recently had one and cost her $1200. You might find someone to do it cheaper??). An extraction of a molar can usually be done in the chair with a local anaesthetic and used to cost around $150. A decent dentist will also want to take an xray the check the shape and position of the tooth's roots prior to extracting it. A single xray used to cost about $40. You could always ring around some dental surgeries and ask the estimated cost of a root canal and an extraction. Medicare do not offer a rebate on dental. The dental surgery I used to work at to allowed patients to pay off their bill in installments, but usually not first-time visitors.
Here in Melbourne we have the Dental Hospital in the city. Their fees are much less, but I don't think they are free??? I think they do offer reduced fees to people holding a pension or health care card. If you have something similar in Brisbane, you could give them a call. The wait for the dental hospital in Melbourne is YEARS :doh: but they do see emergencies more promptly. If you have a dental hospital in Brisbane and you ring them, be sure to tell them that your DH is in a LOT of pain!
We used to recommend to patients with an abscess that they rinsed with hot water. Take a glass of water, as hot as you can stand (without burning yourself :p) and hold some in your mouth. Tilt your head to the infected side so that the water is over the affected tooth. We recommended doing this for a minimum of 10 minutes each hour until symptoms resolved. The heat helps to draw the pus out. I remember that many of our patients said that this gave them far more relief than any medication and worked pretty quickly! Again, my knowledge is 12 years old now... but I assume hot water is still the same!
Your DH is definitely on the right track with the antibiotics. He may even find that he is one of the lucky ones who's infection resolves with antibiotic treatment :crossfingers: Sorry for the long post, and I know my pricing is waayy out of date, but at least it gives you some idea!
And if it turns out to not be an abscess.... I take it ALL back!!:lol: