What causes mumps?

Mumps is also known as parotitis, which is the medical term for infection and inflammation of the salivary glands, which are also called parotid glands. These glands are buried in the back of your cheeks, just below and in front of your ears. You can have infection and inflammation in one or both glands. The salivary glands are responsible for producing saliva, which is important for keeping your mouth clean. If these glands become inflamed, their ability to function properly is reduced and oral infections may result. It can affect any age, gender or race.

Mumps symptoms

When the parotid gland becomes swollen and inflamed, a variety of symptoms can occur, and their intensity can vary from person to person. Some patients don't even realize they have mumps, while others have severe pain and swelling.

Causes of Mumps

Mumps has many different causes:

Bacterial infections are more common among older people because they often take medications that can cause dry mouth. If saliva flow is reduced, bacteria can collect and grow in the ducts that carry saliva from the parotid glands into the mouth, causing infection.

Parotid sialoliths - If this occurs, the flow of saliva is blocked, sometimes leading to infection and swelling of the gland.

Mucus plug - When the parotid glands secrete saliva, it contains mucus, and if the mouth is dry, it can cause the mucus to thicken, which can slow down or even block the flow of saliva.

Viral Infections - The most common viral infection used to be mumps, but thanks to vaccinations, mumps is rarely contracted today.

AIDS - About 5 out of every 100 people infected with HIV/AIDS have problems with their parotid glands.

Tumors – This is not usually cancer, but a tumor can block the flow of saliva.

Certain medical conditions – While these medical conditions don’t cause infection, they can cause parotid gland problems. Some of these illnesses include Marbury, diabetes, and alcoholism.

diagnosis

The first thing to do before treatment begins is to find out what is causing the parotid swelling and mumps. Your doctor will check your glands for symptoms of pain and tenderness. If the skin in the area of ​​the gland is warm and red, and the area is sore, you may have an infection. To determine the cause, your doctor will do imaging tests such as a CT scan, MRI, or X-ray and order blood tests to rule out tumors, stones, or other abnormalities. Once doctors have the results, they can determine the correct treatment.

deal with

If the swelling is caused by bacterial mumps or any other type of infection, your doctor will usually prescribe a course of antibiotics to treat it. If stones are present, your doctor may recommend non-invasive surgical methods to remove them. Small stones can be removed with a probe, but larger stones may require surgery. Some salivary gland stones can be removed with forceps or flushed out. Some people have many of these salivary stones. If you have the initial stages of a tumor, your doctor will prescribe a medication to help slow or even stop the disease.