Do y’all ever have this? It’s when the uvula (sounds like it ought to be a female body part, don’t it?) becomes inflamed and swells. It’s the thing that hangs down in the back of your mouth. No one’s ever given me a satisfactory answer as to what causes uvulitis, so I thought I’d try it out on some of our doper medics. What can be done about it, if anything? Sometimes it’s so big it occludes the back of my throat and when I use mouthwash it almost makes me gag and throw up.
Thanks
Quasi
Many things can cause uvulitis. Here is a list of titles of papers on uvulitis.
Uvulitis caused by anaerobic bacteria.
Traumatic uvulitis.
Uvulitis and supraglottitis: early manifestations of Kawasaki disease.
Acute uvulitis apparently caused by Candida albicans.
Isolated uvulitis secondary to marijuana use.
Acute uvulitis: a sauna hazard.
Hymenoptera uvulitis.
Uvulitis and Hemophilus influenzae b bacteremia.
Isolated uvulitis due to Haemophilus influenzae type b.
Uvulitis is rare but can be serious. You might be interested in an article by RM McNamara which appeared in the Jan 1994 issue of the American Journal of Emgergency Medicine (vol 12, no. 1, pp 51-52), "Clinical characteristics of acute uvulitis. Here is the abstract: Previous literature has identified uvulitis as a condition with serious implications. This report details a series of 15 patients with uvulitis whose clinical features were remarkable for a relatively benign course. This is the largest series of patients with uvulitis in the literature. The predominant symptoms were related to sore throat and pain or difficulty on swallowing. No patient had significant airway or infectious complications attributable to the uvulitis. The only patient admitted to the hospital required management of an associated peritonsillar abscess. Of the 14 patients discharged, 13 (93%) were followed-up and none required further care. Seven (50%) of the discharged patients received symptomatic treatment only, whereas the others were treated with medications including antibiotics, corticosteroids, diphenhydramine, and B-agonists. Further research into the etiology and management of uvulitis is
warranted.
Well, have you ever met a woman without one? 
I have had this on about four occasions after nights of some semi-pro drinking, damn nuisance when you’re hungover anyway. The thing swells to 2X length, and hits that gag-reflex spot (God Bless Rebecca, who didn’t have a gag reflex!). Serious pain in the ass situation. It always went down within 18 hours for me.
Two most common causes or uvulitis I’ve seen in my patients over many years:
Both of these types are self-limiting and best treated with analgesics like tylenol or advil along with the sore throat lozenge of your choice.
Rarely I’ve seen the uvula swell in association with a nasty strep pharyngitis, but then the predominant symptom is sore throat, not sore uvula.
Once I saw candidal uvulitis in an immunosuppressed patient.
Since were talking uvulas. I had a friend with the longest uvula you’ve ever seen. The thing hung well below the base of his tongue. He was a funny guy, too. Used to use it to try and impress the chicks.