Symptoms of a sore throat

There is a wide variety of pain sensations in the throat, from sharp, stabbing, stabbing, cutting - to dull, aching, pressing; from bursting - to pulsating or mixed, with a constant, increasing or decreasing character. They can have different localization in the throat (in the middle, on the right or left, on both sides or diffuse pain throughout the entire throat).

For example, the appearance or increase of pain in the throat when swallowing most reliably indicates a throat disease. If the pain in the throat does not change when swallowing, it can be assumed that these painful sensations in the throat reflexively reflect a disease in a completely different localization. In such cases, the help of other specialists is required, to whom the patient should be referred by a general practitioner.

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Symptoms of a Sore Throat Caused by Viral Pharyngitis

If the cause of the sore throat is viral pharyngitis, the patient may experience the following symptoms:

Symptoms of viral pharyngitis:

• moderate redness of the mucous membrane of the pharynx;
• protruding, sometimes whitish lymphatic follicles on the back wall of the pharynx;
• no plaque;
• The cervical lymph nodes are usually not enlarged

Acute pharyngitis is an acute inflammation of the entire mucous membrane of the pharynx, which occurs more often with a viral infection, and in a "dry" throat, develops from any hypothermia, even in a draft in the summer, when cooling from an air conditioner, ice cream, drinking a cold drink, or with temporary weakness of the body from fatigue. Clinically, it is accompanied by bright redness and pronounced swelling of the mucous membrane of the throat with severe pain when swallowing. These sore throats can be both local (in different places of the throat) and diffused throughout the throat and are so excruciatingly sharp (cutting) that they force you to close your eyes even before you have to swallow anything. General weakness and elevated body temperature up to 38.0 ° C. Swelling in the area of the submandibular lymph nodes usually accompany acute pharyngitis and indicate severe intoxication of the body.

Acute pharyngitis can also accompany other diseases, such as the flu, when the temperature and intoxication are much more pronounced - in such cases, a sore throat is accompanied by signs of general intoxication: chills, headache and muscle pain, aches in the body and joints, a feeling of weakness and exhaustion, a temperature above 38 °C.

Symptoms of a sore throat caused by strep throat

Similar excruciating pain in the throat when swallowing also occurs with angina, which is an inflammation of the palatine tonsils. Since the palatine tonsils are located on the sides, the pain in the throat with angina is localized on the side (on the right, on the left, or on both sides at once). Angina, or tonsillitis, as an inflammation of the palatine tonsils, can be a manifestation of not only an acute cold, but also an exacerbation of chronic tonsillitis.

Localized in the palatine tonsils, angina is also a general severe disease of the body with a large load on the heart, liver and kidneys, a sharp decrease in immunity and dangerously formidable complications. Therefore, it is extremely necessary to consult an otolaryngologist. With inflammation of the tonsils, the regional lymph nodes on the neck at the angle of the lower jaw (jugular lymph nodes) also increase in size and become painful. Most often, streptococcal angina occurs, which is characterized by a rapid increase in symptoms (sore throat and signs of general intoxication).

With angina, the palatine tonsils usually enlarge and become covered with purulent plaque in the form of separate foci the size of a millet grain, which can combine into larger foci. More often, according to the localization of foci of purulent plaque, follicular and lacunar tonsillitis are distinguished.

Streptococcal sore throat

Inflammation is usually localized in the palatine tonsils. Tonsillitis can be mild, moderate, or severe. The disease is rare in children under 2 years of age and over 40 years of age.

Symptoms of strep throat:

• acute onset;
• severe pain in the throat, which gets worse when swallowing and talking;
• bad breath;
• temperature above 38 C;
• the tonsils are swollen, and accumulations of pus (plaque) are visible on their surface;
• The cervical lymph nodes are enlarged and painful.

In all cases of tonsillitis, diphtheria should be excluded!

Diffuse foci of purulent deposits are often observed in ulcerative-necrotic angina (Vincent's angina), when the tonsils are covered with ulcers with foci of tissue necrosis under the purulent deposits. Vincent's angina is characterized by a persistent course, since it does not respond to conventional treatment.

In addition, tonsillitis can be a manifestation of various diseases of the body, for example, infectious diseases (scarlet fever, diphtheria, infectious mononucleosis, mumps), blood diseases (agranulocytosis) and others, when only competent treatment from an otolaryngologist, infectious disease specialist or other specialists is necessary.

Quite rare are cases of pharyngeal tonsillitis, when the lingual tonsil located in the middle of the throat at the root of the tongue becomes inflamed. If not treated properly (failure to follow all doctor's instructions) or self-medicated, pharyngeal tonsillitis can threaten suffocation, since the tissue of the tonsil, increasing in size, can block the airways. A distinctive feature of pharyngeal tonsillitis is the localization of pain in the throat in the middle and below. It is very important to continue treating tonsillitis even when the pain in the throat has subsided, since untreated tonsillitis can give a complication in the form of a paratonsillar or retropharyngeal abscess (an aggressive abscess in the throat).

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Symptoms of a sore throat caused by a retropharyngeal abscess

A paratonsillar abscess, like a retropharyngeal abscess, forms under the mucous membrane of the pharynx. These abscesses are very dangerous complications of untreated tonsillitis. Clinically, they manifest themselves as increasing pain in the throat after a previous tonsillitis. This pain is similar to tonsillitis and is localized on one side, on both sides at once, or closer to the middle of the throat, and then it seems that the pain spreads throughout the entire throat. Gradually, this pain increases and is accompanied by a feeling of painful distension, and a painful swelling appears in the throat, which can block half the lumen of the pharynx, interfering with swallowing and breathing through the mouth.

In this case, there is usually a significant limitation in opening the mouth (lockjaw), which reaches a narrow gap between the teeth. The jugular lymph nodes on the neck are enlarged and painful. No self-medication methods, as well as the usual methods of treating angina, help. Finally, the growing abscess in the throat destroys the surrounding soft tissues and breaks through the fistula to the outside, which is accompanied by a decrease in pain and a feeling of distension in the throat, the swelling in the throat decreases, and the lockjaw weakens. But this impression of relief is very deceptive, because, when the abscess opens spontaneously, only part of the pus pours out until the pressure in the abscess decreases, and a significant part of the pus remains in the cavity. As a result of the remaining inflammation, pus in the cavity of the abscess again accumulates and again the excess pus breaks out, sometimes after weeks and months. Such a relatively safe course of peritonsillar abscess is possible when the mucous membrane of the pharynx is destroyed, when pus flows into the lumen of the throat.

With a retropharyngeal abscess, pus can break through into the surrounding soft tissues, which leads to its spread under the mucous membrane of the pharynx downwards and then it can descend into the mediastinum of the chest, which is life-threatening! Only timely wide surgical opening of the paratonsillar or retropharyngeal abscess allows you to completely remove pus and cure the pharyngeal abscess without complications. Therefore, at the slightest suspicion of the development of a paratonsillar or retropharyngeal abscess, you must urgently contact an otolaryngologist.

Symptoms of a sore throat caused by foreign bodies

A no less dangerous condition, which also causes a sore throat and can lead to the development of a pharyngeal abscess, is a foreign body in the throat. A foreign body in the throat is accompanied by painful sensations in the throat when swallowing, first appearing during eating. A sharp foreign body (fish bones or fragments of a meat bone) can cut into the mucous membrane of the throat when swallowing, when the lumen of the pharynx sharply narrows.

Clinically, a bone in the throat manifests itself as a sharp stabbing or cutting pain with each swallowing movement, but its severity can decrease, creating a false impression of some well-being. A fish bone often causes a feeling of stabbing pain, and a splinter of a meaty bone (tubular) can cause a cutting or dagger pain. The localization of pain indicates the place of penetration of the bone into the mucous membrane of the pharynx. In such cases, it is very important not to panic, so as not to worsen the situation. The natural desire to immediately get rid of a sore throat caused by an accidental bone, pushes many to hasty and very dangerous actions to get rid of a foreign body in the throat by any means. For example, they try to push the bone by swallowing rough food in the form of crusts of dried bread and the like. This sometimes helps and pushes the bone further into the esophagus, where it can pierce the mucous membrane of the esophagus, which is much more dangerous. But there are cases when the fish bone breaks off when pushed through, and the part of the bone that has stuck into the mucous membrane remains and is pushed deeper into the wall of the pharynx. This leads to subsequent inflammation, often with the formation of an abscess of the pharynx, which requires surgical opening, despite active anti-inflammatory treatment.

When pushing a bone fragment, it is possible that it will further penetrate the pharyngeal wall, which will aggravate the injury or cause an additional cut in the pharyngeal wall and may also lead to the formation of a pharyngeal abscess. At the same time, an otolaryngologist will remove the foreign body from the throat in a matter of minutes.

Symptoms of Sore Throat Caused by Injuries

A throat injury, which is always caused by a foreign body, is very similar in sensation and situation to a foreign body in the pharynx. However, with any throat injury (rupture, cut, puncture), there remains a suspicion of penetration of a foreign body into the pharynx, so in this case, an otolaryngologist consultation is necessary.

Another common cause of sore throat may be increased dryness of the throat ("dry" throat), which often leads to painful sensations when swallowing. "Dry" throat is accompanied by constant or periodic dryness in the throat, sometimes turning into a sensation of irritation or burning. These sensations often intensify when talking, vocal strain, and in the morning they intensify to painful sensations with the first swallowing movements. Such sore throats can be localized anywhere (right, left, middle).

The appearance of a sore throat in these cases is due to the fact that the dry mucous membrane of the pharynx becomes sticky from the thickened mucus covering it, which leads to the gluing of the walls of the pharynx when swallowing and painful sensations when detaching. Such a mucous membrane of the pharynx looks subatrophic (thinned) and dried out, slightly irritated (reddened), but without visible manifestations of inflammation.