My Funny Picture

What does my swollen tonsils mean? (Pictures)?

For the past 3 days now my throat has been bugging me. It feels like there's CONSTANTLY something stuck in my throat. Like... you know when you're eating something... and when you swallow ALL of it doesn't go down... so you get a glass of water or something and when it goes down you're like "aaaaaaah." Well, I've tried eating something and drinking some water, but nothing! So, I asked my husband to look in my throat to see if he could see anything. He told me my tonsils were huge. So, I took some picture and now I'm pretty concerned. He says they're huge but they're almost ALWAYS looking like that. It's weird because they're not painful or anything, just annoying, and I've never had this problem other than the times I have a cold. Anyway, please, I'd like to know, what's wrong with them? Also, how can I get them to go down? Again, I am not sick (as far as I know.) Thanks in advance. :) http://img827.imageshack.us/img827/7859/ewnastytonsils.png

Public Comments

1. Well those are some nice large tonsils, but fortunately there isn't any sign of infection there. They are likely enlarged due to your viral infection. Tonsils are part of the lymph system, and react when there is an infection, most often if it's viral in nature, which colds are. It's not really a question of what's wrong with them, but why they stay large all the time. You can have a low grade viral infection and not feel particularly ill, although the rest of your immune system is on the alert. As far as what to do about it, there isn't a lot you can do. You can see an ENT specialist about the possibility of removing them, although they prefer not to do that unless infection of the tonsils is a constant problem. For the moment, you would do best to simply drink more liquid to make sure your throat is kept moist. That helps keep it from being sore. Otherwise, a virus has to be whipped by your immune system- antibiotics don't work in this case. Normally a virus takes about 10 days to 2 weeks to shift off, and the only things that hasten it at all are rest and good nutrition.