What Causes Sore Throat?

Nowadays, a lot of us can easily gets infected with sore throat problems because there are a lot of things that can cause this problem which include infections of viruses or bacteria, sinus drainage and allergies. Whenever you are infected with sore throat and high fever, having problems breathing or swallowing things or feeling very faint, do not hesitate to go and visit your doctor.

If you just feel a mildly ill and you are having a combination of these illness, it is recommended that you visit your doctor in the next day or two. As for a cold and sinus drainage, it just requires you to purchase over-the-counter medicines such as Sudafed or Actifed. But in the case of long lasting cold of more than two weeks or if your situation is getting worse, you must see your doctor.

To know how your doctor prescribes the medicine for sore throats will be basically based on your history and physical exam. Normally patients who have this issue will be given antibiotics and it’s usually caused by a bacteria called Streptococcus. These types of patients usually start having sore throat with a fever that starts suddenly without having cough or cold symptoms. The sore throat is common among children from the age of 5 to 12 years. Some of the other symptoms for sore throat are your throat starts to show redness with pus on your tonsils and you will also be having a swollen neck glands. Not all people can consume antibiotics due to its small risk of producing allergic reaction. Besides that, other side effects of antibiotics are an upset stomach or diarrhea, and consuming antibiotics frequently can cause bacteria to become resistant to it. Always remember, antibiotics will only be used to help when the patient is having a sore throat caused by bacteria.

To reduce symptoms of pain during a sore throat, some of the things you can do if you have a fever or muscle aches, just take a pain reliever like acetaminophen (Tylenol), aspirin or ibuprofen (Advil) but always refer to your doctor. Besides that, cough drops or throat sprays can also do the trick or use the traditional way of gargling with warm water.

It is recommended for you to take a good rest and also drink lots of water or liquid drinks such as Sprite or 7-Up plus stay away from consuming caffeine drinks like coffee, tea, colas or other sodas.