Brief Answer:
Acute Pharyngitis, typically viral, here are some treatment options.

Detailed Answer:
Hi XXXX. Thanks for coming to HealthCareMagic. Sorry to hear about your bad throat. Before I get into any detail about how to manage this issue. I wanted to ask you a few questions about you daily lifestyle and the story behind this symptom.

Firstly, Can you describe the pain for me? Any detail is helpful? How does it feel? Under what circumstances did it start?

Also, has there been any stress on the throat recently? Any Acidity or reflux issues? Do you smoke?

Any exposure history? Have you been in contact with someone with the same symptoms or maybe similar symptoms? (Like those of the Flu or a Head Cold?) Have you had a fever?

I look forward to answers to those questions and any other information you can give me. Any detail you can give me will help me be more useful to you.

Now lets turn to management. It surely depends on the cause. Lets start with the most likely scenarios.

1) Gastric reflux leading to irritation of the throat and vocal cords. this generally happens suddenly after a night of heavy eating or drinking. The Acid in the stomach splashes back into the throat causing burning or shooting pain, difficulty speaking and sometimes even difficulty swallowing. These symptoms would also be accompanied with the symptoms of gastric irritation and indigestion... burping, gas etc.

2) Acute Pharyngitis: If you have no prior history of stress on your throat or stomach. Than an infection is more likely. Fevers and body pain are generally accompanied with these issues. Also the throat pain might be accompanied bu sinus issues and ear pain. Most of the time, the cause of the infection is viral and antibiotics are useless. The immune system usually dispatches these infections in a few days. Your job is to support it and treat the symptoms for comfort.

One home remedy I try is to crush a 325mg uncoated tablet of Disprin (Asprin) and mix it with hot water. The resultant powdery mixture can be gargled for 30 seconds at a time. It has a pain killing effect. It's quite fast. As long as you have no bleeding issues or ulcer issues, the Asprin would not have any major side effects. If you have taken aspirin before, you should be safe to take it again. Children should not take it.. Ever. It is an OTC (Over The Counter) medication.

Gargling salt water is also helpful in many cases. If the pain persists for more than 4-5 days or if it gets worse OR if other symptoms appear.. then you should make your way to be seen by a doctor as you may have a bacterial infection. Those CAN be killed with Antibiotics. The trick is to figure out the correct one and that depends on the examination results of a doctor.

I hope this helps. Let me know if anything was unclear and also please tell me if there is any other way I can help.

Vinay

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