most helpful answer a peritonsillar abscess is a true medical emergency and is almost always one-sided tonsillar swelling with difficulty swallowing. your mother should go to the er. now. an soft-tissue x-ray may be helpful of the er does not immediately feel this is an abscess requiring further treatment that may involve draining it. i have some issues about using antibiotics with a negative strep test. she may also need to be tested for mono even though mono tends to involve both sides
how to diagnose peritonsillar abscess. my mother went to the urgent care clinic today and even though her strep test came back negative they went ahead and gave her the antibiotics to treat her as if it was strep. since then her left tonsil have only increased in size and now she is having difficulty swallowing. only the left tonsill is affected. how can you tell if it is just an infection or if an abscess has formed? thank you.