Post nasal drip & chronic sore throat

I was diagnosed with Post nasal drip & nasal polyps due to allergies, after a year of chronic low grade sore throat and lower nasopharynx (just above the opening into the nasopharynx) and throat redness. I've tried air filters, humidifiers, claritin & antihistamine and it has had minimal effect. The severity has been lessened, but it's still there. It has a tendency to be worst when I wake up, but sometimes mid day it flares up with acute pain just below the opening of the nasopharynx. What should I try? Does it sound like allergies? I'm uninsured and can't afford CT scans and the like.

[National Jewish Health]

Nasal polyps are fleshy growths of the lining of the nose and sinuses.  Their roots are found in the upper part of the nose and in the ethmoid and maxillary sinuses.  On a sinus x-ray they may look like clouding of the ethmoid and maxillary sinuses.  A developing polyp is teardrop-shaped.  A mature polyp looks like a peeled seedless grape.  They can get large enough to block the opening of the sinuses and the nasal passage.  You could certainly be feeling this as pain of the nasopharynx.  However they are soft tissue growths so they are easily compressed.  Some people have problems with a stuffy nose, sinus infections, or loss of their senses of taste and smell.  When nasal polyps block drainage from the sinuses they can lead to chronic sinusitis.

A prescription nasal steroid spray can shrink nasal polyps over time.  It can also decrease inflammation in the nose and sinuses and mucus production.  So it could prevent your postnasal drip and your red sore throat.  A nasal steroid spray does not provide immediate relief of symptoms.  It may need to be used every day for several weeks to months to notice improvement in your symptoms.  To get the most help from any nasal spray first do a nasal wash to remove mucus from your nose and sinuses.  Please read our nasal wash treatment information at http://www.nationaljewish.org/disease-info/treatments/alt-ther/nasal-wash.aspx to learn more about this technique.  Share this information with your doctor to see if you would benefit from this daily treatment.

If you are still having this problem, if and when you are insured, you should have an examination of your nose and the nasopharynx by an ENT doctor, using a fiberoptic laryngoscope.