Sore throat when swallowing: what does the symptom mean, recommendations

Children, teenagers, and adult men and women are all at risk of suddenly experiencing an unpleasant sore throat when swallowing. The causes of this phenomenon can be mechanical injuries to the oral cavity and larynx, various viral infections, bacteria and even tumor growths. If unpleasant symptoms occur, it is best to immediately make an appointment with a specialist to identify the causes and eliminate them.

Physiology of sore throat

What is pain in the throat like? This is discomfort that appears when soft tissues are affected. It occurs when many nociceptors are stimulated, which are located on the mucous membranes. Unpleasant sensations can arise due to various (mechanical, temperature) factors, including the consumption of chemicals. The receptors are activated, and the nervous system reports: inflammation has appeared.

There are a huge number of causes of sore throat, but it is worth highlighting several main groups:

Infectious and inflammatory diseases (ARVI, measles, rubella, chronic inflammation)
Inflammation due to non-infectious factors (pharyngitis, injuries of the larynx and pharynx, burns, foreign bodies)
Non-infectious pathology (Stylohyoid syndrome, galvanism, diseased kidneys, gastrointestinal diseases, etc.)

Causes of sore throat

If we consider diseases as the cause of sore throat, the most common are pharyngitis and tonsillitis. At first, cough, conjunctivitis, and rhinitis are isolated. With tonsillitis, such an unpleasant phenomenon as an increase in temperature is noted. Common signs of diseases are considered to be

inflammation of the tonsils
inflammation of the pharynx
general fatigue

Sometimes a sore throat can be caused by a bruise in the larynx. Such injuries lead to damage to cartilage tissue, the consequences are impaired breathing, internal bleeding, coughing, and in case of complications there is a risk of shock.

Oncology causes severe pain. If we consider cancer of the larynx or oral cavity, the causes may be abuse of tobacco products, alcohol, and also excessive environmental pollution.

In addition to the above causes of sore throat, there may be such anomalies as HIV, infectious mononucleosis, scarlet fever, allergies, reflux esophagitis. It is worth highlighting chronic fatigue syndrome and dry air. The last two can be avoided by correctly forming your daily routine and not allowing the air in the room where you are most of the day to become too dry, especially in winter.

Main reasons

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Most often, discomfort when swallowing is associated with the penetration of pathogenic viruses, bacteria, and fungi into the body. When infected with bacteria, pathological microorganisms release toxins, which cause cutting pain. Viruses can only reproduce inside cells and then kill them. This is the basis of pain during viral infection.

The cause of pain due to fungal infection is the germination of microflora through the skin, mucous membranes, bone tissue with rupture of intercellular connections. Swallowing saliva leads to mechanical irritation of damaged areas of the mucosa, which causes pain.

Symptoms of laryngitis

With this disease, the mucous layer of the larynx is affected. With a hidden flow, the right side of the throat begins to hurt, then an unpleasant feeling covers the left side. Negative sensations may have no connection with swallowing, but intensify when talking, breathing, or coughing.

Other signs of laryngitis include:

general malaise;
breathing problems;
voice change;
barking cough;
heat.

Laryngitis often accompanies experienced smokers; it can occur when inhaling cold air with an open mouth in frosty weather.

Manifestations of tonsillitis (tonsillitis)

In this disease, inflammation affects the tonsils. They become covered with a white coating initially on one side, then it quickly moves to the other and looks like a cluster of white dots on red tonsils.

A sore throat begins with a sharp rise in temperature to 39°C and a rapid increase in inflammation in the throat. It becomes difficult for a person to swallow food, there is a decrease in appetite, and weakness.

When to see a doctor for a sore throat

Only an ENT doctor can make the most accurate diagnosis by studying the symptoms. Of course, in theory, you can listen to the pain yourself and make your own assumptions based on the description. But under no circumstances ignore the help of a specialist!

If there seems to be a lump in the throat and discomfort occurs when swallowing, pharyngitis is most likely. This inflammation occurs due to viruses or bacteria. There is also a high body temperature, muscle pain, and a severe cough. In a neglected state, pharyngitis can develop into a sore throat or bronchitis.

Unilateral sore throat

If you have a sore throat on only one side, it makes sense to talk about a locally affecting infection: damage to the lymph nodes, acute otitis media, infection with harmful streptococci, scarlet fever, diphtheria, measles, and the like.

Pain in the Adam's apple area

If the Adam's apple area hurts, then the mechanical injuries described above are most likely. This is most often the case among athletes and people leading an active lifestyle. With such damage, there is a possibility of fracture of the cartilaginous soft tissues. If you feel difficulty breathing, a crunch in the throat and blood when coughing, consult a doctor immediately!

Pain radiating to the ear

Pain radiating to the ear is not always associated with a disease of the larynx only. Inflammation of the ears is possible, in which purulent discharge from the auditory organs is observed. Symptoms of this disease also include poor appetite, high fever and general weakness in the body.

Stitching pain in throat

Stitching pain often appears as a result of various foreign objects entering the throat, such as poorly chewed food, natural cereal fibers and shells, and fish bones. Such painful sensations are dangerous due to severe coughing and possible suffocation due to blocked airways. It’s not without reason that from childhood we are taught to chew food thoroughly and slowly and not to talk while eating.

Infectious causes of unilateral pain

Pathogenic viruses and bacteria, entering the respiratory tract, pass through the lymphoid ring of the nasopharynx, which performs a protective function. The palatine and nasopharyngeal tonsils neutralize foreign microorganisms.

Important! However, with a decrease in immunity, the lymphoid tissue is not able to cope with infectious agents. This occurs more often in children and older people.

Provoking factors can weaken the body’s protective function:

smoking, which interferes with the blood circulation of the mucous membranes;
deficiency of vitamin B and ascorbic acid;
foci of chronic infection of the oral cavity – dental caries;
adenoid growths;
working in hazardous industries where you inhale toxic fumes.

A sore throat on the left side can be caused by any of these risk factors. For example, an infection from a carious tooth first penetrates into the neighboring tonsil. In this case, a person has a sore throat on the left side, and it hurts to swallow food.

Treatment

Of course, the method of treatment and choice of medications is directly related to the identified diagnosis. That is why you should not engage in home research and self-medication, because only an otolaryngologist can make the correct diagnosis. Moreover, it will be very difficult to obtain antibiotics without a prescription, but even if it is possible to purchase such drugs without a prescription, there is a risk of causing great harm to your health instead of treatment, disrupting the body’s microflora. Do not forget about the compatibility of various drugs.

Never self-medicate children and pregnant women!

Traditional methods of treatment

If an immediate visit to the doctor is not possible, and the first symptoms of a sore throat appear, you can resort to “first aid”, which will allow you to irritate the sore spot less and make subsequent therapy more effective:

Keep conversations to a minimum;
Avoid drinking alcohol and cigarettes during illness;
Stock up on lollipops and lozenges for sore throat and cough;
Drink as much hot liquids as possible, such as tea with ginger and lemon.
Gargle with special solutions from pharmacies.

If the sore throat becomes unbearable, you can take a painkiller.

Peritonsillar abscess

If your throat hurts on the left side when swallowing, doctors often detect acute inflammation of the soft tissues surrounding the tonsil. The so-called peritonsillar abscess, as a rule, develops with inadequate treatment, which is carried out by the patient at his own discretion.

But this also happens in patients with severely weakened immunity or resistance of pathogenic microflora to antibiotics.

As the abscess progresses, a large amount of pus accumulates in the tissue, which is accompanied by intoxication of the body. This means a temperature rise above 39.0 °C, an increasing sore throat, and a spasm of the masticatory muscles.

Important! The patient's condition becomes so dangerous that it can develop into sepsis or meningitis. A patient with a peritonsillar abscess needs emergency care from an ENT doctor in a hospital setting.

The patient undergoes surgical treatment - puncture and drainage of the cavity, followed by intravenous infusion of glucocorticoid drugs.

Medications

In pharmacies, for a sore throat, you can find and try the following types of medications:

Antibacterial and anti-inflammatory drugs (hexoral, diclofenac);
Rinse liquid (furacilin, chlorhexidine);
Sprays with antibacterial and analgesic effects (oracept, bioparox, lidocaine);
Tablets and lozenges (faringosept, strepsils, septolete, gramidin).

To enhance treatment with medications, you can add folk remedies as therapy. This will also help reduce the first unpleasant pain sensations. But even here it’s worth knowing when to stop.

Rinsing the mouth and throat with solutions of soda, salt and iodine. In a glass of water, mix one teaspoon of salt and soda, add 4-5 drops of iodine. Another option for rinsing solution is diluted potassium permanganate.
Steam baths and inhalations based on medicinal herbs. Proven plants include the well-known chamomile, oak bark, and calendula. It costs about 10 minutes to breathe beneficial vapors.
Sweet folk remedy is a mixture of cinnamon, milk and honey. This spicy, healthy sweet is best offered to children. You should take about half a glass at one time.

Never delay treating your throat!

Complications from such a seemingly simple disease may well include bronchitis, otitis media, sinusitis, tonsillitis and pneumonia. Here sore ears, affected joints, heart pathologies and kidney failure are already added.

Prevention

Throat diseases can be avoided if you follow simple rules of a healthy lifestyle. The list of useful actions includes hardening, proper balanced nutrition, walks in the fresh air, active recreation, sports, and giving up bad habits such as alcohol and smoking.

Any complex throat disease can be prevented in time and eliminated in the initial stages, following the advice and recommendations of the attending physician. Correct therapy guarantees the result in the form of absolute recovery. You should not delay treatment and make unclear diagnoses on your own; treatment of the throat, as well as other organs, should always be trusted to specialists.