Some diseases are rare and dangerous. Others occur frequently, such as pharyngitis, but are generally harmless. Especially in the cold winter months, whoever you ask will talk about having a sore throat, most of these pains are pharyngitis. Because pharyngitis is an inflammation of the throat as a result of bacterial or viral infection due to many different diseases.
Pharyngitis often does not occur alone, but it is the first symptom of the disease, as it can be so disturbing that it sometimes prevents the person from drinking water. There are some simple methods that you can apply to both prevent this situation and relieve your pain when you experience it. Let’s take a closer look at what is pharyngitis, what are its symptoms, what is good for pharyngitis, and let’s see the treatment and prevention methods you can apply at home.
What is pharyngitis, what are its symptoms, what is good?
First, what is pharyngitis?
Angina; It is the condition that the throat and pharynx, known as the pharynx, become inflamed as a result of bacterial or viral infection caused by many different diseases, causing pain and itching. Even if it is seen as a simple sore throat, it is absolutely necessary to be examined by a specialist doctor in cases where it turns into a big problem because there is an inflammation in the middle.
What are the symptoms of pharyngitis?
- Sneeze
- runny nose
- Headache
- Cough
- Tiredness
- body aches
- Shake
- Fire
- Swelling in the throat lymph
- Loss of appetite
- Debris
- difficulty swallowing
- Gray, white patches or redness in the throat
- Nausea
- strange taste in mouth
These are some of the symptoms that occur when pharyngitis occurs as a result of inflammation of the throat. Depending on the disease causing the inflammation, several of these symptoms may be seen at the same time. Both the number and intensity of symptoms will increase as the level of inflammation increases and unless intervened.
Diseases that cause pharyngitis:
- Measles
- adenovirus, which causes the common cold
- Varicella
- Croup, a childhood disease characterized by coughing
- whooping cough
- group A streptococcus
- Flu
- Mononucleosis
- Gonorrhea
- chlamydia
- Corynebacterium
Some of the diseases that cause pharyngitis by inflaming the throat and pharynx, known as the pharynx, as a result of bacterial or viral infection, are in this way. The reason why you see so many different diseases in the list is that some of them cause viral and some cause bacterial infections. However, the cause of pharyngitis may not always be such important diseases.
What causes pharyngitis?
- Occupation that requires a lot of conversation
- Not drinking enough fluids
- Excessively cold or extremely hot fluid and food consumption
- Smoking
- hot spices
- Hay fever
- Different types of allergies
- Reflux, which is a condition of acid coming from the stomach
- Conditions that swell sinusitis and adenoids
Here are some of the non-disease conditions that cause pharyngitis. Conditions that occur due to these reasons and have a much longer duration, although not intense, are called chronic pharyngitis. Conditions that occur with the disease and have a more intense effect are called acute pharyngitis.
How is pharyngitis diagnosed?
Whether a person has pharyngitis or not can only be diagnosed by a specialist physician examination or by tests to be performed. First, your throat is examined during the doctor’s examination. Pharyngitis can be diagnosed if there are gray, white patches or redness, and also if there is swelling in the nose or sinusitis.
If the pharyngitis condition is not visible during the examination, but the physician still suspects, some tests may be requested. The throat culture test is simple and results can be obtained within 24 hours. A blood test may be done if a different disease is suspected that could cause pharyngitis. As a result of the blood test, both other diseases and the level of inflammation are revealed.
What is good for pharyngitis?
- drinking plenty of fluids
- drink warm water
- Gargling with a mixture of warm water and salt
- Using a throat moisturizer
- Using a throat lozenge
- Have a rest
In cases where pharyngitis occurs, by applying the methods we have listed, you can alleviate your pain by reducing its effects, even if you do not completely eliminate the inflammation. In addition to these methods, teas that you will make using some plants will also be good for pharyngitis. Some of the plants that are good for pharyngitis are as follows;
- Honeysuckle
- licorice root
- Mallow blossom
- Sage
- slippery elm
At this point, it is useful to open a parenthesis. All these methods are natural and often have no side effects. However, pharyngitis is an inflammatory infection and can be a harbinger of much bigger problems. For this reason, even before applying all these natural methods, you should consult a specialist physician. Even if it has no side effects most of the time, there is no guarantee that it will not have an adverse effect on you.
How to prevent pharyngitis?
- Do not share food and drink utensils with anyone, whether they are sick or not.
- Stay away from people you know are sick.
- Wash your hands frequently.
- Cover your mouth with a tissue when coughing and sneezing.
- Use hand sanitizer.
- Do not smoke, if you do, quit.
- Do not be in environments where you are exposed to passive smoking.
It may be difficult to prevent acute pharyngitis, which is caused by inflammation of your throat as a result of bacterial or viral infections caused by many different diseases, but at least we can prevent chronic pharyngitis by taking into account the recommendations we have mentioned. In cases where you feel sick, you can at least prevent them from getting sick by staying away from other people.
When should you go to the doctor?
- If you have a sore throat that lasts longer than a week
- If your fever is higher than 38 degrees
- If you have swelling in your throat
- If you have a rash
- If the symptoms persist despite using the antibiotic prescribed by the doctor
Since pharyngitis is a disorder that occurs frequently and due to many different reasons, you do not need to go to the doctor at the slightest suspicion. However, if the above situations are experienced and your pain has come to an extremely uncomfortable point, you should go to the nearest health institution and be examined by a specialist doctor.
We talked about the details you need to know about the subject by answering questions such as what is pharyngitis, which is caused by the inflammation of your throat as a result of bacterial or viral infection caused by many different diseases, what are the symptoms, what is good. What we describe is for informational purposes only. You can learn the most accurate and specific information about the subject from a specialist physician by going to the nearest health institution.