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Uvula is a fleshy hanging structure, which is seen at the back of mouth and is a part of the soft palate [1<\/strong>]<\/sup>. When you feel the roof of the mouth with your tongue, the hard palate can be identified.<\/p>\n The hard palate continues backwards as soft palate. At the end of the soft palate a little tissue can be seen hanging. This is the uvula. It contains few muscle fibers and glands [3<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n The word \u2018Uvula\u2019 originated from Medieval Latin, and means \u2018Little Grape\u2019 [1<\/strong>]<\/sup>. It is pronounced as \u2018yoo-vyuh-luh\u2019 [2<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Photo 1: Image showing different structures in the mouth. Though the uvula looks so small and in the middle of nowhere, it has particular function during swallowing of food and in speech. It produces lots of saliva that moistens and lubricates the throat, which makes the activity of swallowing smooth [4<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Similarly, along with the help of soft palate, it closes the passage which comes down from the nasopharynx. This prevents food from entering into the nasal cavity. Certain languages like French and Arabic has particular phonetics that requires the shrill produced by the uvula. So it acts as an accessory speech organ [5<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Further, it is also seen to have lots of macrophages and T cells in the sub-epithelial layer, which helps it in being a barrier to invading organisms [3<\/strong>, 6<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n A swollen uvula occurs when there is inflammation of the structure. This is medically known as uvulitis. Uvulitis is known to be having many causes including infection.<\/p>\n The most common infection of the throat being by the bacteria Streptococcus pyogenes, it remains one of the most important causes of uvulitis [7]<\/sup><\/strong>.<\/p>\n Thus, broadly we can classify the causes of uvulitis into infectious and non-infectious causes[8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n The symptoms and signs of uvulitis depend upon its cause. Generally in infectious causes fever and sore throat is common. Similarly, it is uncommon for respiratory obstruction to occur, in infectious conditions. The usual symptoms of uvulitis include<\/p>\n On examination, red and swollen uvula may be seen. Pus, spots or ulcers can be present on the uvula, depending on the cause. Associated tonsillitis or pharyngitis may be seen.<\/p>\n Image 2: Image of a swollen uvula being examined. The diagnosis of uvulitis is chiefly by clinical examination and history. In certain cases laboratory diagnosis or radiological support may be required. The following tests help in pin pointing or excluding the diagnosis[17, 18, 19, 20<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Certain conditions may be confused with uvulitis because of its presentation. A detailed evaluation with appropriate investigations can confirm the diagnosis[7<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Picture 3: An X-ray of the neck, from the sides, can help in visualizing an enlarged epiglottis. Photo 4: X-ray of the neck, showing soft tissue swelling (arrow) due to retropharyngeal abscess. Image 5: Image showing Peritonsillar abscess of the right side (arrow). Image 6: Rashes due to Hand Foot and Mouth disease can be seen in the mouth. Treatment of uvulitis is based on the cause of the condition. In cases of infectious uvulitis, antibiotic therapy will be required. In non-infectious uvulitis, avoiding the irritant causes, and drugs such as corticosteroids and anti-histamines should be enough.<\/p>\n Supportive treatment to maintain the airway may be required when uvulitis is accompanied by epiglottitis. A mouth guard or C-PAP device can help people who suffer from snoring[7, 13<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Uvulitis generally does not require surgical removal. Uvulectomy (surgical removal of uvula) is usually done in extreme conditions such as cancer of the uvula [21<\/strong>]<\/sup>. It may also be done in people suffering from snoring due non obstructive sleep apnoea, whose uvula is the cause of the condition [22<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n In mild cases of uvulitis, or in cases where individual is undergoing treatment, few techniques can help in reducing the symptoms[13<\/strong>]<\/sup>.<\/p>\n Reference:<\/strong><\/p>\n What is Uvula? What does it mean when your uvula is swollen ? Uvula is a fleshy hanging structure, which is seen at the back of mouth and is a part of the soft palate [1]. When you feel the roof of the mouth with your tongue, the hard palate can be identified. The hard […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[10],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-886","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-diseases-and-conditions"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=886"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":971,"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/886\/revisions\/971"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=886"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=886"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=886"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Meaning<\/h3>\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Image-showing-different-structures-in-the-mouth-pictures.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nImage Source: www.healthline.com<\/p>\nWhat is the function of the Uvula?<\/h2>\n
Causes of a swollen Uvula<\/h2>\n
Infectious causes of uvulitis<\/h3>\n
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Non-infectious causes<\/h3>\n
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Symptoms of swollen Uvula<\/h2>\n
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![\"Image](\"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Image-of-a-swollen-uvula-being-examined-pictures.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nPhoto Source: ars.els-cdn.com<\/p>\nDiagnosis<\/h2>\n
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Differential diagnosis of swollen uvula (pictures)<\/h2>\n
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![\"An](\"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/An-X-ray-of-the-neck-from-the-sides-can-help-in-visualizing-an-enlarged-epiglottis-Photo.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
\nPhoto Source: pedsinreview.aappublications.org<\/p>\n\n
![\"X-ray](\"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/X-ray-of-the-neck-showing-soft-tissue-swelling-arrow-due-to-retropharyngeal-abscess-picture.jpg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n
\nImage Source: upload.wikimedia.org<\/p>\n\n
![\"Image](\"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Image-showing-Peritonsillar-abscess-of-the-right-side-arrow-photo.jpg\"){kind=icon}
<\/p>\n
\nPicture Source: PeritonsilarAbsess.jpg<\/p>\n\n
![\"Rashes](\"https:\/\/emedicalupdates.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/11\/Rashes-due-to-Hand-Foot-and-Mouth-disease-can-be-seen-in-the-mouth-pictures.jpg\")
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\nPhoto Source: outbreaknewstoday.com<\/p>\n\n
Treatment<\/h2>\n
Surgery<\/h2>\n
Home remedies for swollen uvula<\/h2>\n
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