What are the first signs of strep throat?

Question

I discovered a small white painless patch in the back of my throat on my left tonsil. Could this be the first sign of strep throat or is it something serious?
It's completely painless. My throat hasn't gotten red and inflamed, yet, but I am having a slight slight difficulty swallowing.

Also I'd like to add that yesterday it was very cold outside, about 5ºF, and after I got home from being outside for 30 minutes my throat felt a little bothersome

Answer 1

Hope this helps and hope you just have a cold...sorry your sick...smile...good luck

Strep throat is a contagious disease (meaning that you catch it from another person). It is caused by infection with group A streptococci (pronounced: strep-toe-kok-sigh) bacteria, and it's very common among teens. The symptoms of strep throat include fever and stomach pain, along with red and swollen tonsils.

Strep throat usually requires a trip to the doctor and a dose of antibiotics. But with the proper medical care - along with plenty of rest and fluids - you should be back on your feet in no time.

How Do People Get It?

Teens tend to get strep throat most often during the school year when big groups of people are in close quarters.

The bacteria that cause strep throat tend to hang out in the nose and throat, so normal activities like sneezing, coughing, or shaking hands can easily scatter the strep infection from one person to another. That's why it's so important to wash your hands as often as possible - doing so can lessen your chances of getting contagious infections like strep throat.

How Do I Know if It's Strep Throat or Just a Sore Throat?
Most sore throats are caused by viruses - not the strep bacteria. If you have a runny nose, cough, hoarseness, and red or runny eyes in addition to your sore throat, it's probably a virus and will clear up on its own.

Strep throat is different. If you have it, you'll probably know within about 3 days. Signs that you may have strep throat include:

red and white patches in the throat
trouble swallowing
tender, swollen glands (lymph nodes) on the sides of your neck
red, enlarged tonsils
headache
lower stomach pain
fever
general discomfort, uneasiness, or ill feeling
loss of appetite and nausea
rash
If your throat is sore and you have any of these other strep throat symptoms, it's definitely time to see your doctor.

A doctor can often do a rapid strep test right in the office. He or she will use a swab to take a sample of the fluids at the back of your throat. The test only takes about 5 minutes. If it's positive, you've got strep throat. If it's negative, the doctor will probably send a sample to a lab for a throat culture. This test results are usually back within about 2 days.

How Is Strep Throat Treated?
If you have strep throat, your doctor will probably prescribe antibiotics for about 10 days. Within about 24 hours after you start taking the antibiotics, your temperature will probably be back to normal. By the second or third day, your other symptoms should start to go away.

Even if you don't feel sick anymore, it's important to finish your antibiotic prescription. If you stop taking antibiotics too soon, bacteria can remain in your throat and your symptoms may come back.

People who don't get their strep infection treated, or who don't finish all their antibiotics, are at risk for developing other illnesses down the line. These can be serious and include such conditions as rheumatic fever (which can cause permanent damage to the heart), scarlet fever, blood infection, or kidney disease.

Keeping Strep to Yourself
To prevent spreading the bacteria and infecting people around you, keep your eating utensils, dishes, and drinking glasses separate. Wash them in hot, soapy water after use. Don't share food, drinks, napkins, handkerchiefs, or towels. Cover your mouth and nose when you sneeze or cough to prevent passing fluid droplets to someone else. Wash your hands frequently, particularly after wiping or blowing your nose.

It's important to stay home for at least 24 hours until the antibiotics have had a chance to work. This helps prevent passing the strep infection to other people. Your doctor will tell you when it's OK to return to school and other activities.

What Can I Do to Feel Better?
To prevent dehydration, drink plenty of cool liquids, such as water or ginger ale, especially if you have a fever. It's probably a good idea to avoid drinking orange juice, grapefruit juice, lemonade, or other acidic drinks because they may irritate your throat. Warm liquids like soups, tea with honey, or hot chocolate can be soothing.

Ask your doctor before using throat lozenges or over-the-counter anesthetic sprays because these may make a strep infection feel worse rather than better.

Answer 2

First Signs Of Strep

Answer 3

You may have 'strep' but you also may have mononucleosis or just a 'simple' sore throat. If you are having difficulty swallowing, I suggest you see your doctor ASAP to find out if you have something 'really bad' or if you just need to take a few more days 'off' and rest while you recover from your sore throat. The 'fact' that you had a fever but it 'went away' tells me that it is not 'strep' that you have, but you could still have 'mono' which doesn't have a 'fever' present when you get the 'symptoms' but does have a fever when you first get it but BEFORE you get the sore throat.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

As i know of the first sign is pain in your thraot as if you have a cold...and lots of coughing...basically it's the same as when you get a cold except more focused on the thraot instead of the nose....get well soon and i hop it's nothing serious!!! =]