Alternate Names : Burning or pain in the Throat, Pain Throat, Throat Sore.
Any infection or inflammation of the throat will cause pain, which often causes difficulty in swallowing food or speaking. A sore throat is discomfort, pain, or scratchiness in the throat. A sore throat often makes it painful to swallow. Sore throat refers to the inflammation of the pharynx, or back of the throat. It occurs frequently when a person has a cold or an attack of influenza. This inflammation may also involve the tonsils and adenoids if these have not already been removed. An irritating condition of the throat may range from the harmless to the potentially serious.
Sore Throat Causes
Sometimes a throat pain may feel like a needle pricking at a particular point. This is often because of a pus point or a small abscess waiting to burst. Sore throat is mainly caused by bacteria or a viral infection. Many different kind of ailments can give rise to this condition. The most common of these ailments are common cold and influenza. Other diseases which can cause sore throat are tonsillitis, mumps, sinusitis, measles, and diphtheria. Even leukemia on rare occasions may lead to sore throat. Other causes of this disease are excessive smoking and talking, frequent use of voice as in certain professions like singing, acting and teaching.
Sore Throat Symptoms
In case of an acute sore throat, the patient complains burning and dryness in the throat followed by chills, fever and some hoarseness or laryngitis. The lymph glands along the sides of the neck may become swollen and tender. The back of the throat may become very red and even covered with a greyish white membrane. The patient may find difficulty in swallowing, especially during the acute stage. There may also be postnasal discharge if the irritation has spread to nasal passages. The patient with sore throat caused by ‘Streptoccal’ germs suffers from high fever and sharp pain with swelling. Some of common causes and symptoms of sore throat includes:
- Common cold.
- Influenza.
- Breathing through the mouth (can cause drying and irritation of the throat).
- Hoarseness.
Sore Throat Home Remedies
- Half a cup of fresh bottle gourd juice, flavored with honey, is soothing for pain in the throat. It has cooling properties, is a diuretic, a good source of vitamin-B complex, and a fair source of vitamin-C and magnesium. Magnesium ions relieve pain.
- The herb belleric myroblan is valuable in sore throat A mixture of two grams of the pulp of the fruit, a quarter teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of powdered long pepper, and two teaspoons of honey should be administered in the treatment of this condition. The fried fruit can also be roasted after covering it with wheat flour, and used as a cure for a sore throat.
- One-third of a cup each of fresh spinach juice and carrot juice is cooling and soothing.
- One finely-cut fresh onion, flavored with half a teaspoon of freshly roasted ground cumin seeds, with rock salt added for taste, is another remedy for pain in the throat.
- Gargle several times a day with warm salt water. (Mix 1/2 tsp of salt in 1 cup of water.)
- A sherbet made from mulberry, or the fruits eaten whole, is cooling as well as rich in vitamin C. Helps to get rid of sore throat.
- Add a tablespoonful of the pounded dry bark of the mango tree to two glasses of water, make a decoction and keep aside. Add two tablespoons of this decoction to half a glass of water and gargle with it 2-3 times a day.
- Cinnamon is regarded as an effective remedy for a sore throat resulting from a cold. One teaspoon of coarsely powdered cinnamon, boiled in a glass of water with a pinch of pepper powder, and two teaspoons of honey can be taken as a medicine in the treatment of this condition. Two or three drops of cinnamon oil, mixed with a teaspoon of honey, also give immense relief.
- A tablespoon of the bark of the grewia asiatica tree, ground and boiled in two glasses of water, should be used for gargling. It is cooling as well as an astringent.
- The leaves of basil have also been found beneficial in the treatment of this condition. Water boiled with basil leaves should be taken as a drink, and also used as a gargle to relieve a sore throat.
- Sage is another effective remedy for a sore throat half a litre of boiling water should be poured on a handful of sage leaves. When moderately cool, a little vinegar and honey should be added according to taste. This mixture should be used as a gargle. A teaspoon of this mixture can also be taken internally at the same time. Helps in treating sore throat.
- Boil a handful of crushed rose petals in a glassful of water. Filter and add honey to taste, and sip it while it is still warm. It relieves soreness and pain in the throat.
- A gargle prepared from fenugreek seeds has been found to be a very effective remedy for treating a sore throat To prepare this gargle, two tablespoons of fenugreek seeds should be put in a litre of cold water and allowed to simmer for half an hour over a low flame. This should then be allowed to cool to a bearable temperature, strained, and then used entirely as a gargle.
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Prevention tips for sore throat
- Quit smoking.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Avoid drinks which have alcohol and caffeine.
- Don’t speak too long and loudly.
Useful References