Sore throat is a very common symptom with a variety of pathologies, the detection of which can only be done by a doctor. On the mucous membranes of the ENT organs there are a lot of nociceptors (activated only by a pain stimulus). In this case, pain occurs and the nervous system sends a signal about the appearance of an inflammation reaction.
Causes
All causes are grouped into 2 main groups: infectious and non-infectious in nature.
Infectious:
- SARS and pharyngitis;
- candidiasis;
- tonsillitis;
- measles;
- rubella;
- mononucleosis;
- angina;
- oropharyngeal abscesses;
- scarlet fever;
- stomatitis;
- tuberculosis;
- thyroiditis;
- cervical lymphadenitis;
- sexually transmitted diseases of the pharynx.
Non-infectious factors:
- overexertion of voice;
- breathing through the mouth;
- smoking;
- poor ecology (for example, dry air can cause sore throat, it can tickle in the throat;
- hypothermia;
- annoying drinks;
- alcohol
- allergy;
- radiation therapy;
- injuries and burns of the pharynx;
- foreign body.
Non-infectious pathologies:
- heart attack;
- Diabetes;
- blood diseases;
- vitamin deficiency;
- long-term use of diuretics and nasal drugs;
- osteochondrosis;
- tumors;
- gastrointestinal tract diseases (reflux esophagitis or GERD - juice penetrating from the stomach in the esophagus reaches the larynx and irritates it, creating sore throat);
- expansion of the veins of the esophagus;
- kidney disease.
Allergies to wool, dust, food, pollen, etc. are also expressed by rhinitis, sneezing, lacrimation, swelling of the larynx and pain in it, dry cough.
A trauma to the larynx with a fracture or tear of the cartilage can become an injury . In this case, breathing is disturbed, bleeding occurs and a cough appears. Acute pain in the throat during coughing intensifies, shock may develop.
Chronic fatigue syndrome, or CFS, is manifested by irritability, weakness, insomnia, expressed spastic throat pains.
Myalgia, headaches, soreness of the lymph nodes also occur. It is provoked by lack of sleep, fatigue and prolonged negative emotions, overload. You should establish a daily routine and take vitamins.
Scarlet fever
Infectious disease, provoked by streptococcus, belongs to the category of childhood infections, occurs more often in children under 8 years of age. It is characterized by the appearance of a rash on the flexion surfaces, symptoms of general intoxication are manifested in the form of headaches, nausea, temperature, and general condition deterioration.
Swelling in the throat gives sharp pain when swallowing. After infection of the throat, a rash also occurs.
The tongue first turns white, red bumps appear on it, after which it blushes sharply. Submandibular lymph nodes become inflamed and enlarged. The disease requires treatment because it often gives complications.
Mononucleosis
If an adult or child often complains that his throat is sore, he should be examined for mononucleosis.
With this viral infection, fever, pharynx with inflammation of the tonsils and severe acute cutting pain in the throat when coughing and swallowing, lymphadenitis of the neck and armpits, headaches, decreased appetite, liver and spleen lesions, skin rash, weakness and malaise, increased sweating . Often develops in adolescents.
Influenza and SARS
They are characterized by fever, cough, rhinitis symptoms, headaches, lacrimation, myalgia and sore throat. With flu, body aches, chills, fever are added.
Pharyngitis
It is manifested most often by severe cutting pains in the throat when swallowing, accompanied by subfebrile, sometimes high fever. In addition, dryness and soreness in the throat, scratching scratches in the throat; sore head, muscles, joints.
Viscous mucus accumulates in the throat and provokes a dry cough. Possible reaction of regional lymph nodes - cervical and submandibular.
There is no purulent raid in the throat (unlike angina), the tongue of the sky is hyperemic, edematous.
With an allergic etiology, there is no temperature. You can easily earn pharyngitis after smoking a cigarette.
With chronic pharyngitis, there is no intoxication, temperature, but the throat often hurts.
Tonsillitis and tonsillitis
In an exacerbation, temperature, nausea, difficulty swallowing, and a feeling of a lump in the throat are observed. Sore throat is felt when swallowing, coughing. Traffic jams can be detected on the glands.
Laryngotracheitis
In the depths of the throat there is discomfort, there is a sore throat without swallowing. There is a strong moist cough, a hoarse voice, hyperthermia, suffocation and shortness of breath against this background, breathing is difficult, with swelling of the larynx false croup may develop.
Otitis
The temperature may increase, with pressure on the tragus, acute pain in the ear occurs, weakness, insomnia, and sore throat are present. Most often, there is a cutting pain in the throat on one side, which gives into the ear, but both ears can hurt.
Pharyngeal Injury
They often lead to sore throats. Injuries are divided into chemical, thermal and mechanical:
- A chemical burn is dangerous and difficult to treat. It can be caused by vinegar and other acids, alcohols, alkalis, boiling water and steam. A severe sharp cutting pain in the throat appears, possibly bleeding. Burns with vinegar, alkalis cause the formation of a white scab; burns of sulfuric and hydrochloric - brown scabs, nitrogen - yellow. In the future, a burn heals with rough scars leading to stenosis of the esophagus and pharynx. It is necessary for a long time to conduct parenteral nutrition in the form of droppers, or through the intestinal stoma, the patient is exhausted, often needs surgery (esophageal vaginal discharge). Acetic acid burns lead to acute renal failure.
- Thermal burns - burns with boiling water occur in everyday life due to negligence or haste while eating: from tea, coffee, soup. With a 1 degree burn, the calcined epithelium heals in 3-4 days. The pharynx is swollen and red. Subjective burning and sore throat when swallowing and in the esophagus. 2 degree - plaque occurs on the mucosa, is rejected only after a week, under it there are erosive surfaces. Feeling disturbed, temperature may rise. Scars form at the burn site. The third degree - there are injuries under the scabs, they are extensive in depth. Hold for 2 weeks. In such cases, a general burn disease with internal organ failure may develop.
- Mechanical injuries are the most common. Called by foreign bodies in the throat, cuts, stab wounds, firearms. Often occur in young children who drag everything into their mouths: parts of toys, buttons, bones, balls, peel. Sometimes children can bite Christmas toys and ampoules unattended. In adults and children, fish bones and needles may get stuck. They cause severe sharp cutting pain in the throat and prevent swallowing.
Pharyngeal abscess
With a deep penetration of a foreign body and damage to the mucous membrane, infection can occur and a pharyngeal abscess develop. The pains are either unilateral, or along the back of the throat. In 2-3 days, intoxication develops with all signs of inflammation:
- difficulty breathing, sore throat when swallowing, forced head position due to pain (it is tilted to one side or raised up);
- nasal congestion,
- regional lymphadenitis, fever.
Tumors
With benign tumors of the pharynx, there is some pain and difficulty swallowing, with malignant tumors, the pain is constant, sharp.
Cervical osteochondrosis
The sore throat with him is so sharp and lasting that it is called pharyngeal migraine. This is a constant sensation of a lump in the throat, pain gives to the throat when swallowing, giving it to the ear; often joined cardialgia and pain in the clavicle.
Syphilis pharynx
A month after infection, a smooth ulcer with even raised edges, a hard chancre, forms at the site of the introduction of a pale spirochete into the mucosa (this can be with oral sex, kisses).
Regional lymphadenitis also occurs. The chancre itself does not hurt and usually disappears without a trace after a month. But if secondary infection and suppuration have occurred, the symptoms will be expressed in the usual inflammatory intoxication.
After 2-3 months, secondary syphilis appears, then syphilis occurs in the throat - a rash in the form of papules and erythema with erosion. The voice becomes hoarse, dry cough disturbs. Sore throat occurs from the very beginning.
Gonorrhea pharynx
The clinic is similar to a sore throat: cutting pain when swallowing in the throat, pus attacks on the tonsils. Infection is possible with oral sex, in a child during childbirth from a sick mother.
Sore throat without fever
This symptom indicates that the cause is not contagious. This is possible if a foreign body enters the throat.
Aphthous stomatitis in adults also does not give a fever. But aftochki appear on the mucous membrane - ulcers with a white coating. They are very painful even at rest. Cutting sore throat without fever is aggravated by swallowing.
In chronic tonsillitis, there will be sore throats without exacerbations, but there is no temperature. There are plugs on the tonsils that create a feeling of foreignness in the throat, making swallowing and breathing more difficult.
Chronic pharyngitis can occur without temperature if it develops from overstrain of the vocal cords, hypothermia.
Unilateral cutting pain when swallowing a throat without fever can be a sign of Hilger's syndrome. This is a lesion of the external carotid artery, which periodically expands, and the mucous membrane of the pharynx hyperemic.
Cutting sore throat without fever with a return to the ear occurs with Eagle-Sterling syndrome. So in medicine is called a change in the position of the styloid process of the temporal bone.
Without temperature, the throat hurts with tumors, primary syphilis, GERD, and laryngeal tuberculosis.
Types of Sore Throat
If, when swallowing, the cutting pain in the throat does not intensify, then, most likely, the inflammation sits in another organ. It is much easier for a doctor to diagnose a pathology if the pain is localized in one focus.
One-sided pain
Cutting sore throat on the one hand usually occurs with localized infection. The cause is acute otitis media, scarlet fever, measles; used to be diphtheria.
Also included:
- pharyngitis;
- tonsillitis (bilateral inflammation of the tonsils is rare);
- dental diseases;
- the oral cavity.
With such a long list, pharyngitis is most often the cause.
Often, after tonsillectomy, patients have inflammation of the residual tissue of the lymphoid ring in the lateral parts of the pharynx. At the same time, the throat rollers are also affected, causing a cutting pain in the throat from one side - to the right or left. This pathology is characterized by tissue hypertrophy (lateral pharyngitis).
Another cause of cutting throat pain on the one hand may be paratonsillitis - phlegmonous tonsillitis, in which inflammation of the tissues surrounding the tonsil occurs. Localization of the process at the site of the original focus of infection.
Pain in the back of the throat
With pharyngitis, the mucous membrane of the throat is sore and inflamed. The pain is intensified where the mucous membrane is constantly irritated by mucus flowing down the back wall of the pharynx. She is most affected. An inflammatory process that causes cutting pain in the throat on the back of the pharynx occurs with a pharyngeal abscess.
In the Adam's apple
Most often, pain in this area occurs with mechanical injuries - bruises from falls or injuries during sports training. Then the risk of cartilage tissue fractures always remains, which gives pain in the indicated area. Cough with an admixture of blood may be noted; crunch. Also, pain in this zone is characterized by laryngitis. This is possible with tension of the vocal cords, chemical burns, etc.
When do I need to see a doctor urgently?
Medical assistance is necessary in the following cases:
- throat hurts for a long time;
- it is difficult for a person to swallow, breathe;
- open your mouth.
- there is pain in the ear;
- temperature above 38;
- sore throats often happen;
- cutting pain in the throat gives to the ear, neck;
- submandibular and cervical nodes hurt.
First aid
In order for the treatment to be successful, you must immediately take measures when a sore throat appears:
- talk less, especially in a whisper;
- drink more warm liquid - water, tea, juices;
- gargle;
- take analgesics or suck on tablets, lozenges with analgesic effect and cough;
- Do not drink alcohol or smoke.
Complications
Possible complications:
- the tone of the vocal cords decreases, which leads to a narrowing of the larynx and difficulty breathing;
- jaw spasms - interfere with speaking and eating;
- pneumonia may occur; with angina, rheumatism with damage to the kidneys, heart and joints can develop; sinusitis;
- bronchitis;
- otitis.
Diagnostic measures
Assign:
- blood test for HIV;
- radiography of the chest and cervical spine;
- throat swab;
- blood streptococcus;
- determination of acidity in the esophagus.
Treatment principles
How to treat a sore throat? Therapy is determined by the cause. Self-medication is excluded.
Treatment is not only symptomatic, but also etiotropic. In infectious etiology with cutting sore throat, antibiotic therapy is performed. In addition to antibiotic therapy for infectious onset, immunocorrectors may be prescribed.
In chronic infections, homeopathic remedies are good. They inhibit the growth of bacteria and strengthen the immune system. The selection is individual. Indications for use: chronic tonsillitis, pharyngitis, paratonsillar abscess, etc. Supplement the main treatment with analgesic sprays, tablets and lozenges for resorption, rinses. They relieve pain and improve airway patency.
Lozenges
Absorbable tablets quickly remove pain when swallowing, reduce swelling and hyperemia in the focus of inflammation, reduce the concentration of bacteria in it due to the fact that the composition includes an antiseptic and anesthetic. Among them:
- "Lizobakt."
- "Gramicidin C".
- Strepsils.
- The Falimint.
- Septolete.
- "Neoangin."
- "Faringosept".
- "Septefril."
Dissolve the tablets completely and after them do not eat or drink for 1 hour.
Aerosols and throat sprays
Aerosols and sprays in the throat perfectly reduce tissue swelling, destroy bacteria in the focus. Effective are:
- Ingalipt.
- Givalex.
- Hexoral.
- "Horacept".
- Tantum Verde.
- "Camenton."
- "Proposol".
- "Lugol" spray.
Many sprays contain antibacterial components.
Pharmaceutical rinses
Effective pharmacy solutions for gargling are:
- "Furacilin".
- Chlorhexidine.
- Miramistin.
- "Rotokan".
- Chlorophyllipt.
- "Hexoral" in the form of a solution.
Gargle 6-8 times a day for 5-10 minutes. After one hour, also do not eat or drink.
What to do at home if a sore throat occurs?
Home Rinsing Solutions:
- A solution of soda (1 tsp. In a glass of water); you can add here and salt in the amount of ¼ part of tsp. This solution washes bacteria products, relieves tissue swelling and mucous membranes dries. To enhance the effect, add 1-2 drops of iodine.
- Decoctions of medicinal herbs for rinsing: chamomile, calendula - natural antiseptics with a pronounced anti-inflammatory effect. They reduce tissue swelling and help flush pus out of gaps.
- Sage - relieves swelling of tissues, destroys viruses and bacteria; oak bark - has astringent and regenerative effects.
Decoctions of herbs for rinsing should be slightly warm, and each time fresh.
Honey for sore throat
Honey, propolis and pollen are very rich in trace elements, amino acids, biologically active substances and vitamins.
Honey is a natural immunomodulator, has an antimicrobial effect and relieves inflammation. If you have sore throat or sore in it, try to slowly dissolve 1 tsp. honey. The treatment is carried out for several days and for a long time they do not remember about sore throats.
Drinking mode
A plentiful alkaline drink is desirable - warm milk with honey, mineral heated water without gas; apple juice, raspberry, green and linden tea, rosehip broth.
Lemon is not recommended, as it will irritate an already inflamed mucosa.
It is useful to steam your feet, wipe dry, pour dry mustard into socks for the night. You need to wrap your neck with a warm scarf. You constantly need to moisten the air in the room, try to talk less.
Prevention
This is any strengthening of immunity:
- hardening;
- proper nutrition;
- full sleep and rest;
- to give up smoking;
- moderate activity;
- rejection of soda;
- to be more in the fresh air.
It is recommended that you follow these guidelines. After all, as you know, the disease is easier to prevent than to treat.