{"id":183,"date":"2019-10-16T11:07:10","date_gmt":"2019-10-16T18:07:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/entsalem.fm1.dev\/throat\/sore-throat\/"},"modified":"2020-05-19T12:08:44","modified_gmt":"2020-05-19T19:08:44","slug":"sore-throat","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/entsalem.com\/ear-nose-throat\/throat\/sore-throat\/","title":{"rendered":"Sore Throat"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

A sore throat is a painful but common affliction that everyone suffers from on occasion. It may be the first sign of a cold, the result of strained vocal cords or a symptom of a more serious condition such as strep throat. As miserable as a sore throat can make you feel, in many cases symptoms clear up quickly and without medical treatment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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What Are the Symptoms of a Sore Throat?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Symptoms of a sore throat include pain, scratchiness, dry throat, difficulty swallowing, hoarseness, swollen neck or jaw glands and swollen or inflamed tonsils. You may also have a fever, chills, cough, runny nose, sneezing, headache, muscle and joint aches, nausea and vomiting. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Causes a Sore Throat?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Most sore throats are the result of viral infections, often related to the common cold or flu. Bacterial infections can also lead to sore throats. Some of the more common ones include strep throat, tonsillitis, whooping cough and diphtheria. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Additional factors that can cause a sore throat include allergies, acid reflux, environmental irritants, dry air and strained vocal cords. Occasionally a more serious condition, such as a tumor or HIV, can cause a sore throat. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hoarseness is an inflammation of the larynx that results in a change in the voice, making it sound breathy, raspy, scratchy or strained. There may be changes in volume and pitch, as well. Hoarseness falls under the medical category of dysphonia, which refers to voice impairment or any sort of difficulty speaking. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Causes Hoarseness? <\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Hoarseness is the result of a problem with the vocal cords. It can be caused by a variety of different conditions including cold or sinus infections, acute laryngitis, voice misuse or abuse, benign vocal cord lesions, acid reflux, vocal hemorrhage, tobacco and alcohol use, thyroid diseases, cancer, trauma to the voice box and neurological diseases such as Parkinson\u2019s or spasmodic dysphonia, a chronic vocal cord disorder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chronic Cough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A chronic cough is defined as one that lasts eight weeks or longer. More than simply an annoyance, a lingering cough can disrupt your sleep and affect your work. It may be accompanied by other symptoms such as wheezing, shortness of breath, runny nose, congestion and heartburn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you have a persistent cough that doesn\u2019t disappear after a reasonable amount of time, make an appointment with your physician for an evaluation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Causes Chronic Cough?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A cough is your body\u2019s way of expelling a substance that is irritating the air passages. When cells lining the air passages become irritated, they trigger air in the lungs to be forced out under high pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chronic coughing can be triggered by a variety of factors. These include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n