It is important to know the cause of your sore throat so that the correct management strategies can be recommended to you.
Amongst the common causes of frequent sore throat include:
- Pharyngitis - This is usually due to a viral infection of the throat (most commonly the common cold, influenza and mononucleosis). Your body can usually fight off the infection and to speed up your recovery, plenty of hydration, rest and sleep will help. Pain relievers, gargles and lozenges will also help keep your sore throat under control. To prevent a viral pharyngitis, it is best to take measures to prevent the spread of viruses (e.g. frequent hand washing, avoiding sharing of food/drinks with a person who has a viral infection etc). Less commonly, pharyngitis can be due to a bacterial infection (most commonly streptococcus bacteria) and is treated with a course of oral antibiotics
- Postnasal drip - This refers to back drip of excessive mucous from the nose (usually from a viral cold, rhinitis (sensitive nose) or sinusitis. Treating the underlying nose conditions will reduce the irritation of your throat and voicebox from the back drip of mucous.
- Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) - This refers to reflux of stomach contents (acidic) to the level of your voicebox. As your voicebox is a very sensitive organ, just a small amount of acidic fluid from the stomach can lead to inflammation of the voicebox. This results ins frequent sore throat, cough, feeling of something stuck in the throat and even hoarse voice. Treatment usually involves a course of acid suppressant medications. To prevent acid reflux, one should take the following measures:
- Avoid taking a full meal - one can have multiple small meals a day and only eat up to 3/4 full.
- Avoid eating or drinking at least 3-4 hours before lying down/sleeping.
- Avoid or reduce the consumption of certain reflux-causing food such as coffee, tea, fried food, spicy food, alcohol and chocolates.
- Tonsillitis - This refers to infection of the tonsils. The sorethroat typically lasts longer than 1 week and is associated with fever and painful swallowing. Treatment includes a course of oral antibiotics,mouth gargles, lozenges and pain relievers. If this is the cause of your repeated sore throat, you should see an ENT Specialist and consider having your tonsils removed.
There are many other potential causes of sore throat and it will not be possible to go through all of them in this Q&A section. As it sounds like your sore throat is troubling and seems to be a recurring problem, you should see an ENT Specialist for an assessment.
Hope this helps and all the best!
