White spots near tonsils
Hello, I'm a 30 year old Female.
Second week of April, I came down with some nasty upper respiratory illness. Mostly just a cough, super sore throat, runny/congested nose, and fatigue. No fever, chills, or body aches. I took two COVID tests and both came back negative.
I took that week off work. Was feeling better over the weekend and went to work the following week. The weekend after returning to work, I felt like I got sick all over again. Same symptoms. I had to work that week regardless of feeling sick. Started to feel better than I had in a long time by Friday, and have been steadily improving since, though the lingering cough sucks. My throat is still sore in the mornings but tend to improve within a few hours.
However, I've noticed these small bumps that sit superior to my tonsils, and they each have one or more white dots (not patches) on them.
I've been sick/feeling not great for about a month now, but since I'm improving, I really don't see the point in going to a doctor at this point, however, my mom is an RN and is pushing me to go in for a throat culture, even though I have no other symptoms pointing to strep. I've not had a fever the entire time I was sick, no grey tongue, nothing else suggesting strep.
Any ideas what this could be, or should I actually go in for a throat culture?
Thank you!