Health check: How simple swell on your tongue and throat can cause death

Self-strangulation occurs when your tongue or throat swells, causing air blockage, thus making it hard to breathe

One Monday morning, *Ruth woke up feeling ‘different’ in her face. She suspected it was the exhaustion from the previous day’s party at a friend’s house.

However, when she tried to swallow saliva and did so with difficulty, she knew it was more than just the tiredness, especially because she traced with her finger, painful, burning rashes on her neck and chest.

Early treatment

She thought it could be a reaction to peanuts she had indulged in at the party, however when her lips and tongue began feeling heavy, she realised that they were swollen and she got her sister to call a dermatologist because her speech was also becoming difficult.

She was lucky because it was caught early. In serious cases, swelling of the tongue can lead to death in what is known as self-strangulation.

Self-strangulation occurs when your tongue or throat swells, causing air blockage, thus making it hard to breathe.

When swelling occurs around the face, especially the lips and eyes and also on the feet, hands and throat, it mostly occurs under the skin than on the top.

The rash and swellings on Ruth’s skin are known as hives in a condition referred to as urticaria, which is a temporary swelling of the skin associated with itching, which usually should go away in 24 hours. When it doesn’t go away, hospitalisation is required in order to investigate the cause of the swelling of body parts and the rashes which can have multiple triggers.

Exposure to extreme weather like when it’s too hot or cold can also cause rashes in some people, with extreme cases of reactions to exposure to the sun or water regardless of temperature also reported.

Solar urticaria is another rare disorder in which brief exposure to light causes rashes within one to three minutes of exposure to the sun, though in less serious cases, they go away in one or two hours. However, a water-induced reaction is no reason for you to skip your daily bath.

Foods, especially proteins, are also a common source of reactions with, peanuts, eggs and soya being some of the top culprits. Preservatives and colourings used in foods and some painkillers also trigger reactions, as does stress, insect bites and some cancers. Stress, excessive sweating and exercising may also cause these under-the-skin swelling.

Body rashes

Though the rashes could be restricted to one body part, in some people, they spread to the entire body, calling for emergency admission to hospital.

In most cases, withdrawing the culprit causing the reaction is the best way to treat this condition, however, if the itchiness persists, antihistamine is prescribed to ease the discomfort.

Histamine is a chemical produced and stored within the body as part of our immune response and is released during an allergic reaction. The antihistamine treatment blocks the itchiness and reduces the rash.

Short courses of steroids may also be prescribed in chronic cases of urticaria. When you seek treatment, the doctor will interrogate your lifestyle to establish whether you have eaten new kinds of foods, been to new environments or are on specific medications.

A physical examination will explore probable insect bites, the nature of the swellings on your skin, any joint pains or their extent and probability of spreading.

Feel free to discuss this with your dermatologist. When you have difficulty in breathing, wheezing and have fainting episodes, it’s time to check in at a hospital near you.