<p>I hope this doesn’t gross anyone out. I woke up Saturday morning with slight soreness and redness in the throat. At first I thought I may have been dehydrated, because it hurt in the same way that a really dry throat hurts. But now, two days later, it still feels the same, so I assume I have a slight infection, your basic “sore throat”.</p>
<p>The unusual thing is that, along with the common symptoms of soreness and redness, my uvula has gotten really long! My wife is freaked out about it and insists that I should see a doctor ASAP, but I’m not so sure. It is elongated to the point of touching the back of my tongue, causing me to feel the constant sensation of having to clear my throat, and my family say I’ve been snoring more loudly than usual.</p>
<p>I see a lot of references online to elongated or swollen uvula (the two seem to go hand-in-hand), but none that tell me the three main things I want to know: (1) Is this, in itself, a reason to see a doctor? (2) How long will this last? (3) Is there anything I can do to make it go away more quickly?</p>
<p>I’ve never heard of this problem before, let alone experienced it. Any suggestions will be appreciated.</p>
<p>“If an elongated uvula lasts longer than four hours, see your doctor.”</p>
<p>Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. Seriously, it sounds like it is inflammation from whatever is making your throat sore. I would call your doctor and they will let you know if you should be seen or not. I’m sorry you’re not feeling well. It’s a bad time of year to be under the weather.</p>
<p>I had the same thing on Thanksgiving morning! I looked it up on the internet, and the concensus was that it was a direct result of my overindulging in drinking and smoking the night before-- but I had engaged in neither activity. I did not go to the doctor (it was Thanksgiving weekend, after all) and it got better on its own over the course of 4-5 days. My guess is that it was caused by a virus.</p>
<p>Last winter I had a bad case of uvulitis. My uvula was swollen, not elongated. It was scary enough that I had to call the ambulance, I was having difficulty breathing and swallowing was all but impossible. A trip (DH drove me over) to the ER, a shot and meds and I was on my way home. It was a few days later and I was better but it was not something I would care to repeat!</p>
<p>Salt water makes it feel better, but it’s still just as long. :(</p>
<p>I thought it could have been caused by drinking, since I’d had a few drinks the night before, but again, since it’s still elongated two days later, I’m thinking it’s more likely an infection.</p>
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<p>Funny! But you scared me…I read that an thought, “Oh, no! I’m 44 hours beyond help!” Then I realized it was a joke.</p>
<p>“It is elongated to the point of touching the back of my tongue, causing me to feel the constant sensation of having to clear my throat, and my family say I’ve been snoring more loudly than usual.”
then you need to go see an ENT .The Uvula serves no real medical purpose and can be surgically reduced or eliminated if it causes problems.</p>
<p>I’m sorry!!! Sometimes my sense of humor gets me in trouble. I’m sure your uvula will be fine. I do have a question. Did you notice how long it was before the sore throat? I ask because one of my relatives has an unusually long uvula and the doctor told him it was not a cause for concern. Maybe you are just noticing it because of the inflammation and maybe it isn’t too different than it usually is?</p>
<p>Well, I haven’t measured it, but I’m pretty sure that it doesn’t usually touch the back of my tongue, because this choking sensation is new. But I don’t know how much longer it is than usual.</p>
<p>What a weird thing to be talking about. It’s a weird word anyway: uvula. Uvula uvula uvula. Weird.</p>
<p>Oldfort, yes, I am definitely trying to make him feel better.</p>
<p>I take a short break from the Christmas Catharsis thread and end up in a discussion about a rarely noticed and underappreciated body part. I think I need to get a second job. :)</p>
<p>Mantori…hope you can figure this out…never heard of it so not much help here. </p>
<p>But I just have to say I opened this thread thinking…wow…what are they allowing to go through for threads these days? On first glance, I thought maybe one of those Tiger mistresses sneaked on CC to get a reaction after browsing through our comments. LOL. Just had to say something…</p>