Often mistaken for common tonsillitis, quinsy has the potential to be very serious. Although it may begin with the same symptoms as tonsillitis, it is generally a worse form of the complaint and in the worst case may endanger life.
What Exactly Is Quinsy?
Quinsy is a common name given to peritonsillar abscess formation in the tonsil area. It affects people in their late teens and adulthood and usually affects one tonsil more than the other. It has the potential to be very dangerous if left untreated.
What Are The Symptoms?
Peritonsillar abscesses start as a sore throat and inflammation of the tonsils. It develops into pus filled abscesses on the tonsil area making swallowing very difficult and extremely painful, sometimes nearly impossible.
Along with this, there is often a high temperature and a general feeling of being unwell. You or those around you may have noticed a foul smelling breath odour and a visible swelling to the neck area. It is also likely that you will suffer from referred pain in the ears and neck area in general and a distinct change in your vocal ability and normal sound.
With quinsy, comes a lot of swelling of the area and surrounding tissues. This is what makes it so difficult to swallow and causes the pain.
How Is It Treated?
As many healthcare professionals are now convinced that most sore throats, even very bad ones, will heal on their own, people are afraid to go to their doctor with a sore throat complaint meaning that there is the potential for the condition to go undiagnosed until it becomes dangerous; quinsy, however is not very common these days.
If your doctor thinks that you have a mild form of quinsy or typical Tonsillitis, you may be fortunate enough to be offered a course of antibiotics which will help the body fight the bad bacteria away and reduce the swelling and abscesses.
For others though, surgery may be necessary in which the abscess is incised and drained and a course of antibiotics is given after the procedure. This will require a visit to hospital and the use of a general anaesthetic while the procedure is being carried out followed by the antibiotics and pain relief.
Your situation may be slightly different. ask a question below ↓ and our editorial team will reply with our advice.
The Dangers Of Quinsy
This condition carries several dangers, some more serious than others. In the worst case scenario, the individual may have a large, pus filled cavity to their tonsil which has the potential of bursting at any time. If this happens, the person may inhale the contained pus as they breathe, in which case the poison can enter their lungs; this is known as aspiration. It is made worse by the fact that the fluid they are inhaling is infected, it is thick and the body is already struggling to fight off the bacteria.
When a person aspirates their lungs are a lot less able to function properly as the lungs cannot exchange oxygen and other gases as well as the fluid is preventing this natural action; in the worst case, this can cause severe damage, sometime irreparable.
If suspected, quinsy should be treated as an urgent medical case and you should go and see your doctor urgently for treatment.
What Next?
If you are worried about contracting Quinsy or would like to know more about it read our article on Can You Still Get Quinsy?
7 days ago I went to the GP for a sore throat. She confirmed tonsillitis and sent me away with ABs and suggested Paracetamol and Advil. After 24 hours of chewing these like popcorn I went to ER. They say the infection but said no quinsy. They treated with steroid, iv antibiotics and morphine. I was discharged with oral abs and stronger pain killers. Within 24 hours i was back at ER after maxing our on the recommended doses of the painkillers. They assured me to persist it will go away. I went home for 4 hours tearing my hair out. Came back and a new doctor in ER identified the quinsy. They called an ent doctor who lanced it then cut it. He said not much came out. It did feel better and I was admitted overnight to get iv ABs. The next morning discharged but within 12 hours i was back in ER with even worse pain radiating up my neck, ear tonsils, teeth and jawline. I think they thought I was nuts. It took hours to even get a painkiller and 6 hours for the ENT to come back toER. This morning he aspirated the area around the initial incision and pulled out 5ml of pus. It was almost instant relief. I've been relatively pain free for 12 hours now, but I know it's building again. Under the jaw is swelling again and the tonsils are becoming increasingly tender. Still nothing like before but I can see it on the horizon for tomorrow morning. I will make him drain it again. Why won't this thing just die. It's like 4days of iv ABs and 3 of oral ABs, two lancing and drains???
The worst thing for me has been the recovery, my blood infection levels were apparently very high (508) and I am still very tired 2 months later...I have scar tissue from the large hole in my mouth the quinsy caused and it feels like I have something stiff in the back of my mouth every time I swallow. I have not found much information about after care so not sure if this is normal ??
Update on my comment from last year - I had a tonsillectomy and my instincts were right...I had a quinsy hiding under my left tonsil which is why my throat was so swollen and the infection wasn't going! It had been sitting there since August the previous year - which is actually really dangerous apparently.
Honestly, having my tonsils taken out was the best decision I ever made so if you have the opportunity, I really, really recommend it!! (It is 2 weeks of pure hell afterwards while you recover but the end result is so worth it). I had the operation in the beginning of July 2016 and haven't had so much as a sore throat since!
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