First ocean dive and experiencing pain in the back of my throat

[BauderDesign]

So I just got done with my first day of diving in Florida off of Marathon and I after coming off the boat I noticed that the back of my throat was sore and the Uvula was very swollen. When I called DAN to ask about it they said it was probably from the dry compressed air and to just drink lots of water. I just finished my fifth bottle of water and its still very swollen I don't want to have to miss the next two days of diving because of this. Should I go see a doctor over this or am I just over reacting?

 

[daz88]

it's normal. happens to a lot of people when they first start diving. You're just new and breathing very hard and very fast, so your throat is getting dried out. drinking water doesn't instantly fix it. Just get some cough drops or hard candy. they also have a spray for dry sore throats you could use.
I know it's easy to say and much harder to do....but try and breathe slower. Kind of difficult because you are on task overload thinking about everything you need to do under water, but if you can, try and think about your breathing. Nice, long, slow breathes. It will help calm you down and will help make you throat not feel so raw.

 

[Sortsol]

Simple solution...dive more! It happened to me too at first, just takes some experience and you need to be hydrated before you dive.

 

[TSandM]

This could be due to irritation from dry air, but you could also have a garden-variety sore throat, especially if the uvula is really swollen. Do you have any other symptoms? Congestion, cough, fever, swollen glands? If so, I'd put off diving until they resolve.