Ask a doctor on the topic of General medicine

Tonsillitis?!

September 21, 2017 | 20,00 EUR | answered by Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Hello Dr. Gehring. After a few months, I am contacting you again (male, 24 years old, Lupus patient). I am feeling as usual, but unfortunately I have had a sore throat for the past 5-6 days. Strangely, it seems to get better in the mornings. Today, I noticed a white coating in my throat, not a lot but visible. I am wondering if this could be a case of tonsillitis. Strangely, I do not have a fever, just a sore throat which is causing a slight cough. My mother thinks that seeing a doctor for antibiotics would be the best option. However, I have read that tonsillitis is not always caused by bacteria, so I am not sure if antibiotics are necessary. Otherwise, I am planning to wait out the weekend, drink lots of tea and use mouthwash. What do you recommend? I am, of course, anxious about seeing doctors and undergoing tests again! I fear that they may listen to my lungs and find something wrong (such as bronchial constriction from the past)... Maybe I could ask them to just look at my throat...? Well, thank you in advance and greetings.

Dr. med. Frauke Gehring

Good day,

You just need to look into the throat, and if there are indeed white coatings, then antibiotic treatment should also be considered! A virus-induced throat inflammation is actually more common, but it does not cause white coatings, so it can be distinguished quite well (exception: infectious mononucleosis, but then the spleen is also enlarged).

Of course, you could ask to only look into the throat! If you don't have a cough, you won't be listened to. However: If you had bronchial constriction, it would be better to diagnose and treat it. But you don't have any symptoms of that.

Get well soon!

Sincerely, Dr. Gehring