Sore throat not healing: Why Won’t Your Sore Throat Go Away?: Physicians Medical Urgent Care: Urgent Care

03.07.202326.06.2023 by alexxlab

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Why Won’t Your Sore Throat Go Away?: Physicians Medical Urgent Care: Urgent Care

We’ve all been there before. Having a persistent sore throat is both uncomfortable and a bit of a question mark. So what’s causing your sore throat and why won’t it go away? A persistent sore throat is categorized as a sore throat that recurs multiple times (chronic). It may be cause for concern if you’ve ruled out some common conditions.

At Physicians Medical Urgent Care, Dr. Ines Munoz De Laborde and Dr. Sveltlana Burkhead can provide medical treatment to determine the cause of your sore throat and recommend treatment.

What’s causing your sore throat?

When you’ve ruled out the common cold, you should explore a few other well-known conditions that may be the root cause of your sore throat.

Allergies

Allergens are all around us. They’re the substances that are often harmless and sometimes even invisible to the naked eye!

As the seasons change, you may experience a sore throat, runny nose, or red and itchy eyes. These are referred to as environmental allergies. Certain foods, plants, pet dander, dust, and pollen can also cause inflammation.

Postnasal drip often occurs as a result of allergies. Excess mucus drains from your sinuses into the back of your throat, causing a sore, sometimes scratchy throat.

Postnasal drip can also be triggered by medication, a deviated septum, allergies, dry air, dust pollen, and more.

Acid Reflux

Acid reflux is a common cause for a persistent sore throat. While some associate acid reflux with an uncomfortable stomach pain, some often feel a persistent soreness in their throat.

Acid reflux occurs when the lower esophageal sphincter (LES) is unable to close tightly. Your stomach contents flow backward and up into the esophagus, leaving you feeling an uncomfortable, and sometimes sharp pain in your throat. If you experience acid reflux often, it may be causing your sore throat.

Tonsillitis

If you’ve had a sore throat for a long time and have trouble swallowing, it may be time to consider if your tonsils are to blame. Tonsils are the two soft tissues located on each side of the back of your throat. They are a defense mechanism to prevent your body from infection. When they become infected, it’s known as tonsillitis.

If you’re experiencing difficulty swallowing or painful swallowing, a scratchy throat, stiff neck, red or swollen tonsils, or yellow and white spots on your tonsils, head to the doctor.

Severe tonsillitis is known as a peritonsillar abscess. It’s a serious problem that occurs if your tonsils haven’t been treated properly. A pus-filled pocket forms near one of the tonsils and spreads through your mouth.

Prevention at home

There are steps you can take at home to ensure your health is in order. Hydrate often, eat a well-balanced diet and practice exercise for 20-30 minutes per day. If tonsillitis is to blame, gargle with warm salt water a few times a day to reduce the chance of infection. Stay away from smoking. Smoking can lead to uncomfortable symptoms, including persistent coughing and soreness in your throat.

A sore throat can be cause for concern if it persists over a long period of time. To prevent a more serious disease, book online and visit the doctors at Physicians Medical Urgent Care for convenient, and holistic care to determine what’s causing your sore throat.

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How Many Days is Too Many for a Sore Throat?

Allergies, Cold and Flu,Treatments,Infectious Disease

February 15, 2018

If you’ve ever had a sore throat, you know it’s no fun. It’s painful and it hurts even more when you swallow. And when it goes on longer than a week, it may be strep throat and it’s time to see a doctor.

Sore Throat or Strep Throat? Viral or Bacterial?

Sore throats come in two varieties: viral and bacterial. The most common cause of a sore throat (pharyngitis) is a viral infection, such as a cold or the flu, and usually goes away on its own. A sore throat, often accompanied by fever, headache, stomachache or rash, may indicate bacterial strep throat (streptococcal infection) and requires treatment with antibiotics to prevent complications.

How Do You Feel? And Why?

Viruses cause many sore throats in both adults and children. A runny nose, cough and hoarseness are usually viral infections. Antibiotics have no effect on viral infections, but your doctor may suggest over-the-counter acetaminophen or ibuprofen and throat lozenges to alleviate the pain.

Common infections causing a sore throat might result in other signs and symptoms, including:

Fever
Cough
Runny nose
Sneezing
Body aches
Headache
Nausea or vomiting

When Is It Time to See A Doctor?

It’s time to see a doctor when certain symptoms occur.

In Children
According to the American Academy of Pediatrics, you should take your child to a doctor if symptoms don’t go away with the first drink in the morning. Also, you should get immediate care if your child has severe signs such as difficulty breathing or swallowing or unusual drooling, which might indicate an inability to swallow.

In Adults
According to the American Academy of Otolaryngology, you should see your doctor if you have a sore throat and any of the following associated conditions:

A sore throat that is severe or lasts longer than a week
Difficulty swallowing
Difficulty breathing
Difficulty opening your mouth
Joint pain
Earache
Rash
Fever higher than 101 F (38.3 C)
Blood in saliva or phlegm
Frequently recurring sore throats
A lump in your neck
Hoarseness lasting more than two weeks

Make It Feel Better

For a sore throat, acetaminophen (Tylenol) or other mild pain relievers may ease pain and fever. These should be used for the shortest time possible and label directions should be followed to avoid side effects. For children, over-the-counter (OTC) pain medications designed for infants or children (Tylenol, Infant’s Feverall) or ibuprofen (Pediatric Advil, Motrin Infant) can ease symptoms.

For strep throat, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics. It is important to take the full course of antibiotics as prescribed even if the symptoms are gone. Failure to take all medication as directed can result in the infection worsening or spreading to other parts of the body. Not completing the full course of antibiotics to treat strep throat can increase a child’s risk of rheumatic fever or serious kidney inflammation.

Also important: Stay home until 24 hours after starting antibiotics. You may need an EXTRA day to regain your strength!

How Not to Get a Sore Throat

Sore throat germs are spread through contact, so the best way to prevent a sore throat is to stay away from those germs and practice good hygiene. Teaching your children to do the same will keep those germs out of your house and away from your family. So, remember:

Wash your hands thoroughly and frequently, especially after using the toilet, before eating and after sneezing or coughing.
Avoid sharing food, drinking glasses or utensils.
Cough or sneeze into a tissue and toss it in a receptacle that won’t come in contact with others. When necessary, sneeze into your elbow.
Use alcohol-based hand sanitizers to washing hands when soap and water aren’t available.
Avoid touching public phones or drinking fountains with your mouth.
Regularly clean telephones, TV remotes and computer keyboards with sanitizing cleanser. Also clean phones and remotes in your hotel room when you travel.
Avoid close contact with people who are sick.

The Final Words for Sore Throats

A sore throat is one of the most common reasons for a sick day and a doctor’s visit. At the first sign of scratchiness, you wonder if it will linger or fade away in a few days. If it’s simply a symptom of the cold or flu, it will probably go away as your flu subsides. If it doesn’t, you’ll need to see a doctor. And the sooner you do, the sooner those antibiotics will have you saying, “Bye-bye, sore throat. You are out of here.”

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Mouth and throat ulcers in pediatric cancers

Mouth and throat ulcers are a common side effect of childhood cancer treatment. The medical name for this condition is oral mucositis.

What is oral mucositis?

The word “oral” refers to the mouth and throat. Mucositis is swelling of the mucous membrane (wet inner lining of some organs of the body). Mucositis can develop anywhere in the digestive tract, including the mouth, stomach, intestines, and anus. Often it leads to the formation of painful ulcers.

More than half of children with cancer have symptoms of mucositis. More than 75% of patients who have had a hematopoietic cell transplant (also called a bone marrow or stem cell transplant) are likely to experience this side effect. Many patients report that mucositis is one of the most annoying side effects of cancer treatment.

Mouth and throat ulcers are a cause for concern because they can:

Cause pain and discomfort
Difficulty eating and drinking
Increase the risk of infection
Lead to a change in treatment plan

This side effect is treatable but cannot be completely prevented. To cope with ulcers in the mouth and throat will help:

Prevention
Pain and discomfort relief
Treatment of infections
Nutritional support

Risk factors and causes

Risk factors that increase the likelihood of mouth and throat ulcers:

High-dose chemotherapy
Hematopoietic cell transplant (also called bone marrow or stem cell transplant) preceded by high-dose chemotherapy
Irradiation of the head and neck area
Neutropenia
Poor condition of teeth

Chemotherapy and radiation therapy work on rapidly dividing cancer cells. However, some normal cells, including those lining the mouth, pharynx, and digestive tract, also divide rapidly. Chemotherapy drugs and radiation can also damage these healthy cells.

Chemotherapy causes the death of rapidly growing cells. Energy centers of cells (mitochondria) trigger a chain of reactions that cause inflammation of the mucous membranes of the mouth and throat.

When the cells die, the integrity of the oral mucosa is broken.

Signs and symptoms

The patient and family should report the following symptoms to the doctor or nurse:

Irritation or pain in the lips, mouth or throat
Difficulty swallowing
Increased discharge from the mouth (salivation) or throat
White plaque or sores in the mouth or throat
Bleeding gums
Body temperature above 38.0°C

Diagnosis

Ulcers in the mouth and throat are diagnosed:

Medical examination of the mouth and throat. The doctor will examine the skin of the lips, the mucous membrane behind the right and left cheeks, on the lower and lateral surfaces of the tongue, the floor of the mouth, hard and soft palate and pharynx.
When the patient complains of pain and inability to eat and drink.

The doctor will rate the severity of mucositis (from 1 to 4) depending on the severity of the condition. The severity of the problem determines the tactics of treatment. Grades 3-4 are considered severe – the stronger the manifestations, the higher the likelihood of complications.

Ulcers and redness
Ulcerated but still able to eat
Bleeding ulceration, only liquid food remains
Tissue necrosis, significant haemorrhage, life-threatening consequences

Prophylaxis

In some cases, mouth and throat ulcers cannot be prevented. But patients can take certain steps to reduce the severity of symptoms.

Dental Exam – Your child should have a dental exam if possible before starting treatment. The dentist needs to know that your child has cancer. The examination will identify problems with the teeth that are subject to treatment or observation.
It may be necessary to remove braces or other corrective appliances in the mouth before starting treatment.
Daily Oral Care – Follow your doctor’s instructions, even if oral care is painful.
- Gently brush your teeth with a soft bristled toothbrush. Brushing your teeth must be done with extreme care. This process can cause the gums to bleed, thereby allowing pathogenic bacteria to enter the bloodstream. If brushing is not possible, swabs or mouth sponges can be used.
- Use only mouthwash recommended by your doctor. Antibacterial mouthwashes such as chlorhexidine can eliminate bacteria from the mouth.
- If the patient has mouth ulcers, flossing may be contraindicated. Check with your doctor before flossing. It can damage tissue and cause bleeding and infection.
- At the beginning of a course of chemotherapy, a dietitian will likely recommend a “soft” diet to prevent oral microtrauma. In addition, soft foods are easier to chew and swallow. Patients are advised to avoid food with a rough texture, spicy or sour food. They may also consciously avoid very hot or cold foods.
Your healthcare team may recommend measures to prevent dry mouth. These include drinking plenty of water, using saliva substitutes or rinsing your mouth, and eating sugar-free hard candies and chewing gum.
Lip Care – Use your doctor’s recommended lip moisturizer.
Ice treatment – Slowing down ice packs before and during chemotherapy can slow the formation of mouth ulcers. This process is called cryotherapy. Cold reduces blood flow in the mouth.
Palifermin – The drug palifermin is sometimes recommended as a prophylaxis for patients who are about to undergo autologous hematopoietic cell transplantation.

The possibility of using photomodulation (low intensity laser therapy) as a method of prevention and treatment is currently being investigated. Light stimulates tissue regeneration, reduces inflammation, swelling and relieves pain.

Treatment

Treatment is aimed at relieving pain, controlling infections and providing adequate nutrition to the patient.

Pain relief

Pain relief may be local or systemic and depends on the patient’s symptoms.

Topical treatments include the following:

Rinse or “Magic Rinse”—Your doctor or nurse may recommend certain rinse solutions or “Magic Rinse”. There are many different types of “magic rinse”. Each pediatric medical center uses different ingredients. Typically, medications are included to help relieve pain, fight infections, and reduce swelling.
Topical Gels – Doctor-recommended gels may temporarily relieve discomfort.

Systemic treatments include various types of pain medications. Your doctor may recommend other methods of pain relief that do not require the use of drugs.

Nutritional Support

If the patient has difficulty eating and drinking, this can lead to dehydration and/or malnutrition.

In some cases, patients may require enteral tube feeding or total parenteral nutrition (TPN).

Treatment of infections

Mouth and throat ulcers are a gateway for pathogenic microorganisms (bacteria, viruses, fungi) to enter the patient’s body, which can lead to infection.

Treatment of the infection may include antibiotics, antivirals and/or antifungals. The treatment team may consult with an infectious disease physician to develop a treatment plan.

–
Modified January 2019