Symptoms of sore throat

There is a wide variety of pain in the throat, from sharp, dagger, stitching, cutting - to stupid, aching, pressing; from raspirayuschih - to pulsating or mixed, with a constant, growing or subsiding nature. They can have different locations in the throat (in the middle, right or left, on either side or poured pain all over the throat).

For example, the appearance or strengthening of pain in the throat when swallowing most reliably indicates a throat disease. If the pain in the throat does not change when swallowing, we can assume that these pain sensations in the throat reflexively reflect the disease in a completely different localization. In such cases, the assistance of other specialists is required, to which the general practitioner should refer the patient.

[1], [2], [3], [4], [5]

Symptoms of sore throat caused by viral pharyngitis

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

Symptoms of viral pharyngitis:

• mild reddening of the pharynx;
• protruding, sometimes whitish lymphatic follicles on the posterior wall of the pharynx;
• there is no plaque;
• cervical lymph nodes, as a rule, are not enlarged

Acute pharyngitis is an acute inflammation of the entire pharyngeal mucosa, which occurs more often with a viral infection, but in the "dry" throat, develops from any hypothermia, even in a draft in the summer, when cooled from an air conditioner, ice cream, cold drink or temporary fatigue . Clinically accompanied by a bright reddening and pronounced swelling of the mucous membrane of the throat with a sharp pain when swallowing. These pains in the throat can be both local (in different places of the throat), and spread all over the throat and are so painfully sharp (cutting) that they make you squint before you have to swallow anything. General weakness and high body temperature up to 38.0 ° C. Swelling in the submandibular lymph nodes usually accompany acute pharyngitis and indicate a marked intoxication of the body.

Acute pharyngitis can accompany other diseases, such as influenza, when the temperature and intoxication are much more pronounced. In such cases, sore throat is accompanied by signs of general intoxication: chills, headache and muscle pain, body and joint aches, feelings of weakness and weakness, temperature above 38 ° С.

Symptoms of sore throat caused by sore throat

Similar painful pains in the throat when swallowing appear and 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 located on the side (right, left or both sides at once). Angina, or tonsillitis, like inflammation of the tonsils, can be a manifestation of not only acute colds, but also exacerbation of chronic tonsillitis.

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

With tonsillitis palatine tonsils usually increase and become covered with purulent coating in the form of separate foci of the size of millet grains, which can be combined into larger foci. More often, the localization of foci of purulent plaque distinguish follicular and lacunar angina.

Angina caused by streptococcus

Inflammation, as a rule, is localized in the palatine tonsils. Angina is mild, moderate and severe. The disease is rarely found before the age of 2 years and after 40 years.

Symptoms of angina caused by streptococcus:

• sharp beginning;
• severe sore throat, worse when swallowing and talking;
• bad breath;
• temperature above 38 C;
• Palatine tonsils edematous, on their surface are visible accumulations of pus (plaque);
• cervical lymph nodes are enlarged, painful.

In all cases of angina, diphtheria should be avoided!

Spilled foci of purulent raids, often observed with ulcerative necrotic angina (angina Vincent), when under purulent deposits of tonsils are covered with ulcers with foci of tissue necrosis. Vincent's angina is characterized by a persistent current, as it does not respond to conventional treatment.

In addition, angina 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 an exceptionally competent treatment of an otorhinolaryngologist, infectious disease specialist or other specialists is needed.

Quite rare are cases of pharyngeal angina, when the lingual tonsil is inflamed, located in the middle of the pharynx near the root of the tongue. In case of insufficient treatment (failure to fulfill all doctor's prescriptions) or self-medication, pharyngeal tonsillitis can threaten suffocation, as the tissue of the amygdala, enlarging, can block the airways. A distinctive feature of pharyngeal angina is the localization of pain in the throat in the middle and below. It is very important to continue treatment of sore throat even when the pain in the throat has subsided, since the untreated tonsillitis can give a complication in the form of a paratonsillar or a pharyngeal abscess (an aggressive abscess in the throat).

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Symptoms of sore throat caused by the retropharyngeal abscess

Paratonsillar abscess, like the pharyngeal abscess, form under the pharyngeal mucosa. These abscesses are very dangerous complications of untreated tonsillitis. Clinically, they show up with a growing pain in the throat after the angina. This pain resembles a sore throat and is localized on one side, from either side immediately or closer to the middle of the throat and then it seems that the pain is spreading all over the throat. Gradually, this pain grows and is accompanied by a feeling of painful raspiraniya, and in the throat there is a painful swelling, which can overlap half the lumen of the pharynx, preventing swallowing and breathing through the mouth.

In this case, there is usually a significant restriction in opening the mouth (trismus of the masticatory muscles), which reaches a narrow gap between the teeth. The jugular lymph nodes on the neck are enlarged and painful. No methods of self-treatment, like the usual ways of treating angina, do not help. Finally, an increasing abscess in the throat destroys the surrounding soft tissues and through the fistula breaks out, which is accompanied by a weakening of the pain and a feeling of raspiraniya in the throat, swelling in the throat decreases, and the trisus of the chewing muscles weakens. But this impression of relief is very deceptive, for, with the spontaneous dissection of the abscess, only a part of the pus pours out until the pressure in the abscess decreases, and a large part of the pus in the cavity persists. As a result of the remaining inflammation, the pus in the abscess cavity accumulates again and again the excess of pus breaks out, sometimes in weeks and months. Such a relatively safe course of the paratonsillar abscess is possible with the destruction of the mucous membrane of the pharynx, when the pus flows into the lumen of the throat.

With a gullet abscess, a breakthrough of pus can occur in the surrounding soft tissues, which leads to its spreading under the mucosa of the pharynx downwards, and then it can descend into the mediastinal chest, which is life-threatening! Only timely wide surgical opening of the paratonsillar or zaglugal abscess can completely remove pus and cure abscess of the pharynx without complications. Therefore, with the slightest suspicion of the development of the paratonsillar or zaglugal abscess, it is urgent to contact the otorhinolaryngologist.

Symptoms of sore throat caused by foreign bodies

No less dangerous condition, which also causes pain in the throat and can lead to the development of the pharynx abscess, is the foreign body of the throat. The foreign body of the throat is accompanied by pain in the throat when swallowing, first appearing during meals. An acute foreign body (fish bones or splinters of a meat bone) can swallow into the mucous membrane of the throat when swallowing the pharynx sharply decreases.

Clinically, the bone in the throat is manifested by sharp stitching or cutting pain with each swallowing movement, but its sharpness can decrease, creating a false impression of some well-being. The fish bone often causes a sensation of stitching pain, and a splinter of meat bone (tubular) can cause a cutting or dagger pain. Localization of pain indicates the place of penetration of the bone into the pharyngeal mucosa. 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 the pain in the throat caused by accidental ingress of bone pushes many to hasty and very dangerous actions to get rid of the foreign body of the throat by any means. For example, they try to push through the bone, swallowing rough food in the form of crusted dried crusts and the like. This sometimes helps and pushes the bone further into the esophagus, where it can pierce the esophagus mucosa, which is much more dangerous. But there are times when a fish bone breaks off when it is pushed, but a part of the bone that has stuck into the mucous membrane remains and pushes deeper into the pharyngeal wall. This leads to subsequent inflammation, often with the formation of an abscess of the pharynx, which requires surgical dissection, despite active anti-inflammatory treatment.

When pushing a fragment of a bone bone, it is possible that it penetrates into the pharyngeal wall, which aggravates the trauma or causes an additional incision of the pharyngeal wall and can also lead to the formation of a pharyngeal abscess. At the same time, the otorhinolaryngologist will remove the foreign body from the throat in a matter of minutes.

Symptoms of sore throat caused by trauma

The trauma of the throat, which is always applied by an extraneous body, feels and feels very similar to the foreign body of the pharynx. However, with any injury to the throat (rupture, cut, puncture), there is a suspicion of penetration of the foreign body into the pharynx, therefore, in this case, consultation of the otorhinolaryngologist is necessary.

Another frequent cause of sore throat may be increased dryness of the throat (dry throat), which often leads to painful sensations when swallowing. A "dry" throat is accompanied by a constant or periodic dryness in the throat that changes from time to time in feelings of perspiration or burning. These sensations are more often amplified during conversation, voice loading, and in the mornings intensify to painful sensations at the first swallowing movements. Such pain in the throat can be localized anywhere (right, left, middle).

The appearance of pain in the throat in these cases is due to the fact that the dried mucous membrane of the pharynx becomes sticky from the thickened mucus covering it, which leads to adhesion of the pharyngeal walls upon swallowing and pain sensations when it detaches. Such mucous throat looks subatrophic (thinned) and dried, slightly irritated (reddened), but without visible manifestations of inflammation.