Many probably know such an uncomfortable feeling, like a sore throat. Such a problem often appears in autumn and winter, when it is damp and frosty outside. Often the throat hurts in the summer, especially after drinking cold drinks and ice cream.
How to cope with this trouble? To cure a sore throat is easy enough if you know its main cause. There are many methods, both traditional and medicinal. We will reveal the main ones in this article.
Sore throat: main symptoms and causes
Often, a sore throat is accompanied by a runny nose, hoarseness of the voice, fever, dry cough, sweating, chills, drowsiness, and severe fatigue. This delivers significant discomfort and knocks out of the usual rut of life.
What causes sore throat? There are many causes of pain.
Often the pain in the throat is due to viruses, often the "culprits" of this problem are bacteria.
Often the inflammatory process in the throat is associated with diseases such as:
- flu;
- ARVI;
- angina;
- measles;
- chickenpox.
Also, often unpleasant sensations in the throat occur due to allergies, low humidity, over-tension of the throat muscles and various bacterial infections (diphtheria, gonorrhea, chlamydia and others).
How can you treat your throat at home?
With the appearance of pain, many wonder: "What to do?". At the initial stage of the disease, it is very important to follow general guidelines so that the situation does not worsen. We will look at some of them below:
- as soon as the disease begins to manifest, lozenges for sucking help well. Both usual with menthol and mint, and lollipops with essential oils of alpine herbs will help. Such remedies perfectly relieve pain and irritation. But they should not be taken for more than 5 days;
- Lemon is an excellent antiseptic. Rassasyvaya slice of the fruit several times a day, you forget about pain in the throat;
- warm salt solution with the addition of a few drops of iodine has an anti-inflammatory effect. It is necessary to rinse a sore throat with this solution 3-4 times a day;
- decoction of herbs not only softens the mucous membrane, but also reduces inflammation;
- in order for the body to cope with the infection faster, it is necessary to drink warm water, green tea, and juices more often;
- during illness it is very important to keep your throat warm at all times. To do this, wrap your neck with a warm scarf or wear a high-necked sweater;
- if you feel that the discomfort in the throat is associated with a cold, then it is not superfluous to steam your feet, wipe them dry and put on warm socks (mustard powder should be poured into them), then go to sleep in these socks;
- try to talk less, let the vocal cords rest a little.
A sore throat hurts and it hurts to swallow - which will help quickly?
If the sore throat is unbearable, and swallowing turns into a real torture, then warm milk with honey, which you need to drink several times a day, will help reduce suffering. Also very effective is tea with ginger.
It will not be difficult to prepare this traditional medicine: put 2 teaspoons of pre-cut ginger into a cup and pour boiling water over it. Also, while the decoction is still hot, you can make inhalation.
Excellent and natural plant spray for the throat. "Geksoral", "Ingalit", "Strepsils" - all these drugs have already proven their effectiveness. Any of them is quite easy to get at the pharmacy.
Her throat is sore but not sore: treatment in this case
There are also cases when only tickling appears in the throat, but there is no pain as such. This very unpleasant feeling of drying and burning is often accompanied by a dry cough and hoarseness.
In this case, you need to drink as much warm liquid as possible. It can be herbal teas, fruit drinks, various decoctions. Any tea has warming and healing properties. This drink perfectly fights inflammation and infection.
When cooking, you should avoid eating spicy and salty foods, as well as forget about smoking for a while. It is also important not to load the vocal cords.
Sore throat of a pregnant woman / nursing mother
A problem like a sore throat can take everyone by surprise. Often she appears in a pregnant woman. The fact is that the organism of the future mother is rebuilt, which is accompanied by a decrease in immunity, as a result of which a streptococcal or staphylococcal infection appears, which leads to a sore throat.
Treatment of a pregnant woman should be as gentle as possible so as not to harm the unborn baby. Therefore, the use of many pharmaceutical preparations is not recommended for treatment.
In most cases, doctors prescribe bed rest, frequent rinsing of the throat, and also plenty of warm drinks.
What can gargle? There are several effective recipes that are safe for a pregnant woman and a future child:
- saline solution. It is done as follows: take half a teaspoon of salt and dissolve it in a cup of warm water. You can take both regular and iodized, or even sea salt;
- soda-saline solution. In 200 ml of water, you need to dissolve ¼ tsp. Of salt, soda and add 3-4 drops of iodine;
- decoction of medicinal herbs. Calendula, chamomile, and sage cope well with pain. Infusion to rinse is very easy to prepare. You only need to pour a teaspoon of raw material with a glass of boiling water and let it brew for 10 minutes. Before the procedure is recommended to strain the broth;
- lemon juice. You need to dissolve the juice of one lemon in ½ cup of warm water.
In other words, for rinsing suitable as broths, and solutions and even juices. However, you must take freshly prepared and warm (not hot!) Means for rinsing. The procedure should be done 8-12 times a day.
What will give gargling? This procedure will completely relieve the oral cavity and pharynx from accumulated microorganisms and viruses, as well as soften and moisturize the dry and inflamed mucous membranes of the nasopharynx.
Sore throat can also be observed in a nursing mother. In this case, the care in treatment also does not hurt. Optimal safe means are rinsing and inhalation. Only here you need to carefully approach the choice of means.
After all, some means may come, while others - no. When breastfeeding suitable rinsing decoction of chamomile, sage and calendula. Also an excellent method would be rinsing soda with the addition of a few drops of iodine. An effective method of treating sore throat are inhalations with eucalyptus.
Sore throat in a child is not uncommon
This is explained by the fact that streptococcal infection in children of preschool and younger school age develops on average up to 5 times a year.
If a child has a sore throat, it is important to seek help from a pediatrician who will prescribe an effective treatment.
At the initial stage of the disease, it is extremely important for the baby to stay in bed. If you carry the disease on your feet, then you can only exacerbate the situation.
It is also very important to ensure that the child consumes as much liquid as possible (herbal teas with sage, chamomile and hunters). Due to the abundant drink, the body will quickly get rid of toxins. In addition, the liquid will not allow dehydration.
When a child has an inflammatory process in the throat, it hurts him to swallow. Therefore, it is not surprising why he sometimes completely refuses to eat. In this situation, it is desirable to feed the baby only with food that does not irritate the throat. Perfectly mashed soups, mashed potatoes, as well as yoghurts.
In any case, you must immediately take the necessary measures, otherwise there may be serious complications.
When do I need to see a doctor?
It happens that the usual pain in the throat leads to a significant deterioration in health. Therefore, without medical care is not enough. When do you need to run to the doctor? Medical care may be needed in the following cases:
- if the sore throat does not go away within the first days of treatment with home methods;
- the pain is so strong that it becomes difficult not only to swallow, but also to open the mouth;
- along with pain, fever appears;
- pain accompanied by a rash on the skin.
By calling a doctor, you can certainly find out what kind of disease you have and how you should fight it. Depending on whether the tonsils themselves or the back of the pharynx hurt, the specialist will determine such diseases as pharyngitis, sore throat or laryngitis. As for the sore throat, then it is quite easy to determine. A bright sign of such a cunning disease - the presence of high temperature.
Prevention
It is better, of course, not to be ill. After all, who likes to lie with high fever and terrible sore throat? Therefore, in order not to have to suffer with a disease that delivers a lot of trouble, it is better to immediately take the following preventive measures:
- when the infection is just starting to worsen, you need to walk more often in the open air;
- try to take more foods rich in vitamin C. It is sauerkraut, lemon, walnut, rosehip syrup;
- do not drink too cold drinks;
- Try to dress for the weather. It is advisable to wear a knitted scarf and warm shoes in the frosty winter, because catarrhal diseases often occur due to the general hypothermia of the body;
- Eat fresh fruit, and drink cranberry and ling juice. In winter, try to take a multivitamin;
- It is very important to wash hands with soap and to follow general hygiene rules.
As you can see, a sore throat is not such a big problem. Having noticed the first signs in time and having learned the true cause of the disease, you will quickly and effectively get rid of it. And it is better to observe preventive measures - so you will surely save your health.
And in addition to the article - a video about the treatment of angina.
