Angina is a rather unpleasant and painful disease in itself, which is accompanied by inflammation of the tonsils, fever and general weakness of the body. This is an infectious disease that is often diagnosed in childhood, but it does not always bypass adults as well. Angina during pregnancy is not the most frequent, but also not the rarest, the woman’s body is very vulnerable during this period, since most of her energy is devoted to the development of the fetus.
Typology of the disease
The etiology of the disease can be viral and bacterial, transmitted by airborne droplets, as well as through household items and personal hygiene. Bacterial tonsillitis is considered the most common, staphylococci are most often its causative agents.
In medical practice, it is customary to distinguish several types of angina:
- Catarrhal sore throat - there is no white or yellow coating on the tonsils, they are covered with mucus.
- Purulent tonsillitis, which is divided into follicular, lacunar and necrotic.
During pregnancy, purulent tonsillitis is the most common type of disease, almost 75% of cases are registered on it. You can carry out the diagnosis yourself at home, but then immediately consult a doctor to protect your health and the health of the unborn baby.
Symptoms of the disease
In the early stages, sore throat during pregnancy can be confused with other diseases, but the symptoms suggest only one thing that the body needs competent medical attention.
General symptoms:
- Loss of appetite, chills, weakness.
- Cervical and submandibular lymph nodes increase in size (painful on palpation).
- White or yellow plaque on tonsils.
- Fever, headache, sweating.
- The process of swallowing is accompanied by pain.
It is worth separately paying attention that some types of angina have their own characteristics:
- Follicular tonsillitis common during pregnancy is accompanied by the formation of white and yellow dots on the tonsils. The foci of inflammation are painful and are an accumulation of the main sources of inflammation.
- The necrotic type of angina rarely appears on its own, most often it is a complication of another disease. The main feature is the death of tonsil cells, which requires serious medical treatment.
- Lacunar purulent tonsillitis is characterized by the formation of a film on the inflamed tonsils, which completely covers them. This becomes the zone of major inflammation.
Angina during pregnancy is especially dangerous in the early stages. If left without proper treatment, it can cause complications in the heart, kidneys and joints, which will also affect the development of the fetus.
Angina in the 1st trimester
During pregnancy in the first trimester, tonsillitis can greatly affect the development of the fetus. It is in the first three months that the formation and development of the main organs of the baby takes place, and the increased temperature and painful condition of the mother lead to oxygen starvation and intoxication. In the most severe cases, one has to resort to abortion for medical reasons due to pathological consequences for the fetus.
It is very important to establish the cause of the future mother’s malaise in time and prescribe a course of treatment to protect the baby from irreversible consequences and cure the woman with the least damage to the bearing of the fetus.
Angina during pregnancy after the 1st trimester
Angina during pregnancy in the second trimester, and even more so in the third, is not able to provoke malformations in the development of the child, since all its organs are already formed. However, this does not mean that treatment can be approached lightly.
Angina during pregnancy at a later date is fraught with the development of complications that threaten hypoxia for the unborn baby, and also increase the risk of premature birth. Treatment of tonsillitis from the 4th to the 6th month of pregnancy can have an adverse effect on the mother's body, and therefore on the body of the unborn baby.
It is for this reason that it is worthwhile to approach the choice of medicines with increased caution and only with the attending physician.
Treatment of sore throat during pregnancy
The period of pregnancy is the most exciting and difficult in the life of any woman. The treatment of possible infectious diseases is greatly complicated by the fact that not all medicines can be prescribed for a future mother.
What is dangerous about a sore throat during pregnancy, we examined above, now it is important to find out how it can be treated with the least consequences for the health of mother and child. First of all, the expectant mother must strictly observe bed rest, excess activity will only harm her health.
Antibiotics
The most common method of controlling angina is considered to be a course of antibiotics. The period of pregnancy is no exception, but is accompanied by nuances that the attending physician should carefully consider.
Before prescribing antibiotics for sore throat, all necessary tests should be taken from a pregnant woman, the doctor should fully understand the course of pregnancy and the general health of the mother.
The most common drug to date is Bioporox (in the form of a spray), it has a local effect, is practically not absorbed into the bloodstream and does not affect the baby. The microparticles of the drug fall into the throat and descend lower into the respiratory tract, where they exert their therapeutic effect.
There are other antibiotics that are often prescribed for the treatment of tonsillitis. Often, the doctor has to weigh the degree of risk to the child and the potential health benefits of the mother. The use of a number of drugs is allowed only if the positive effect is many times greater than the possible damage to the health of the child.
Antiseptics
Only the attending physician can determine how to treat sore throat in each case. In addition to a course of antibiotics, topical antiseptic drugs are prescribed in the form of rinses, lozenges, or tonsils solution.
Pills primarily have an analgesic effect on the sore throat, while coping with the bacteria that have settled in it. This form of treatment is prescribed quite often, but some absorbable pills cannot cope with the disease.
Gargling helps to remove an unpleasant painful plaque from the tonsils. The doctor should be involved in the selection of the drug, taking into account the individual characteristics of the woman's body. There are many options in modern medicine, but you can not engage in self-medication, especially during pregnancy.
So, for example, the well-known Lugol solution, which is recommended in most cases for the treatment of tonsillitis, is contraindicated for use during pregnancy.
The solution for self-treatment of tonsils is designed to relieve unpleasant plaque. A piece of cotton wool wound on a stick is moistened in a product and gently rubbed on it with the amygdala. The process is quite painstaking and not too convenient, therefore more often these solutions are also used in the form of rinses of the mouth and throat.
Antipyretics
Angina is often accompanied by an increase in body temperature, which contributes to the development of fever. Women are wondering how to bring down the heat so as not to harm themselves and the child.
There is a large selection of antipyretics that are designed specifically for this, but most of them have an adverse effect on the fetus. So, for example, the well-known "Nurofen" can provoke premature birth.
By what means and how to treat angina, only a doctor can determine. Prescribing additional drugs is justified only in cases where the benefit to the mother outweighs the risk to the child.
In medical practice, there is an unwritten rule. If the temperature of a pregnant woman does not exceed 38.5 degrees, then antipyretics are not prescribed. Doctors recommend drinking more tea with raspberries, conducting special wipes for the body, and using other folk remedies allowed by a specialist.
Medicines are used only at higher temperatures, which hold for a long time.
Diet for angina
In addition to the methods of combating the disease described above, a woman should carefully monitor her diet. Angina is accompanied by loss of appetite, but during pregnancy, proper nutrition for a weakened body is necessary.
There are a number of simple recommendations:
- Refuse solid foods that are hard to swallow with a sore throat.
- In the early stages of the disease add chicken stock to the diet.
- All foods should not be too hot, spicy or sour.
- Products must be easily digestible.
- Eat vegetable juices from carrots, cucumbers and beets.
- Exclude the use of carbonated drinks.
- Exclude sour cream, yoghurts, fried foods from the diet.
As soon as the disease begins to recede, it is recommended to sit on the fruit for several days, which will not overload the body, but supply it with the missing vitamins and minerals.
Complications after a sore throat
Having examined the methods of combating the disease, one cannot but mention the possible consequences and complications.
Oddly enough, the sore throat is most easily tolerated in the first weeks of pregnancy, when the mother's body has not yet had time to rebuild and successfully developed antibodies to fight the infection.
The end of the first trimester is recognized as the most dangerous, when the fetus is not yet sufficiently protected, and viruses and bacteria are quietly carried through the bloodstream, leading to septic poisoning of the body.
Among the most dangerous consequences of tonsillitis are:
- Strengthening the intensity of toxicosis, the development of gestosis.
- Detachment of the placenta, which threatens complications in the development of organs and systems of the baby.
- Miscarriage.
- Fetal development of the fetus in the womb.
At the end of pregnancy, despite the sufficient development of the baby, the protection of the mother's body weakens, as the forces are depleted. That is why you should carefully monitor your health at a crucial stage in bearing a child.
Angina can provoke the development of a number of concomitant pathologies:
- Meningitis.
- Sepsis.
- Renal inflammation
- Inflammation of the lymph nodes.
- Abscess.
- Failure of labor.
Sore throat prophylaxis
Prevention of angina is necessary, because it is much easier to prevent the development of the disease than to get rid of it later.
Doctors give pregnant women the following recommendations:
- Carry out regular strengthening of immunity.
- Watch out for nasal breathing.
- To timely treat teeth.
- To refuse from bad habits.
- Adjust your diet.
- Lead a moderately active lifestyle.
- Avoid hypothermia, do not drink ice drinks.
The rules are very simple, but they should not be neglected to reduce the risk of developing an unpleasant and dangerous disease.