In addition to examining the tooth and surrounding tissue for signs of infection, your dentist may: Recommend a dental X-ray: This can help identify sources of dental disease that may have led to the abscessed tooth. Your dentist can also use X-rays to determine if the infection has spread and may be affecting other areas. Recommend a CT scan: If the infection has spread …

To diagnose tonsillitis, your healthcare provider will: Examine your throat for redness and swelling. Ask about other symptoms you’ve had, like a fever, cough, runny nose, rash or stomachache. This can help them rule out other conditions. Look in your ears and nose for other signs of infection. Feel the sides of your neck to see if your lymph nodes are swollen and tender. …

A healthcare provider will do a physical examination, focusing on your throat and tonsils. They may do a throat culture to rule out infections as a possible cause. They’ll look for changes in your tonsils like sores that could be cancer. If they suspect tonsil cancer, they’ll refer you to an otolaryngologist (an ear, nose and throat specialist or ENT). This is a healthcare provider …

Dentists are often the first to detect tongue cancer during routine exams or oral cancer screenings. Or your primary care physician (PCP) may notice signs during an exam for another condition. To gather more information, your provider may: Shine a fluorescent light into your mouth to see if it reveals any abnormal tissue. Use an endoscope (a thin, flexible tube with a camera …

To start, your healthcare provider will ask you about your symptoms and medical history. They’ll do a physical exam of your head and neck area and a neurological exam. They’ll likely make their diagnosis based on a few different factors, like: The specific type of pain you’re feeling. The exact spot on your face where you feel pain. Which activities or actions trigger …

A healthcare provider can diagnose a TIA using a combination of methods, including: Medical history. This involves asking you questions about your health history and symptoms. Physical and neurological exam. These help a provider learn more about your symptoms, especially if you’re still experiencing them at the time of the exam. Imaging scans. Healthcare providers can get a computed tomography …

Sometimes you can feel or see a thyroid nodule yourself, or your healthcare provider may discover it during a physical exam. Your provider may also discover a nodule with an imaging test done for another reason. Even though thyroid nodules are almost always noncancerous (benign), the small chance that it could be cancer means that most thyroid nodules need some type …

As thrombocytosis doesn’t typically cause symptoms, the first sign is often a high platelet count that shows up during routine blood work (complete blood count). Thrombocytosis involves having more than 450,000 platelets per microliter of blood. If you have elevated levels, your healthcare provider will likely order a follow-up blood test a few weeks later to see if your levels …