Why do people get sore throats?

Answer 1

Ordinary Sore Throat

Our nasal passages help warm the air we breathe. But in mouth-breathers, the air is inhaled mostly through the mouth, not through the mose. Many people get morning sore throat as a result of mouth-breathing. This is common during the winter when furnace heat dries the air within the home and when humidity is not being replaced into the air. Adding moisture to the air often helps. For example, placing a 2-gallon bucket of water with one cap of bleach in the water on a floor register helps put moisture back in the air. The bleach prevents mold and bacteria from growing in the water. Bucket-moisture systems should be weighted down with a brick in the bucket to prevent it from being tipped. But, a bucket-system should never be used in a home with young children since babies and toddlers are top (head) heavy; they can drown in barely 1-inch of water since they cannot right themselves after falling head first into a bucket or any standing water.

If you have a history of chronic sore throat, you should see your doctor.

Allergies or Sinusitis

Allergies can cause chronic sore throat if the person feels nasal stuffiness. Drainage from the sinuses bathes the back of the throat, causing cough and sore throat that is worse in the morning and improves during the day.

Strep Throat

Strep throat is an infection caused by a type of bacteria called Streptococcus (often referred to as Group A streptococci or "GAS" for short). Strep throat is most common in children between the ages of 5 and 15, although it can happen in younger children and adults. It is most common in the late fall, winter, and early spring. Strep throat is a contagious disease (meaning that you catch it from another person). It can be spread when an ill person coughs or is in close contact with a healthy people. Kissing or the exchange of oral mucous can also spread the disease from one person to another. Strep throat is diagnosed with a physical examination, medical history, and a rapid strep test which is in the form of a throat culture which can be taken in the doctor's office. The good news is that strep throat is only responsible for about 10% to 15% of sore throats and that normally it is fairly simple to get rid of a sore throat. It is no fun, but after feeling sick for 2 or 3 days, most kids start feeling better.

In toddlers to school age children, strep throat often goes hand-in-hand with ear infections. In addition to ear and throat pain, some children have reported severe stomach pain as a primary symptom, possibly as a reaction to the bacteria-laden mucous that drains from the ears and throat into the stomach, thus irritating the stomach lining.

What's important and different about strep throat is that if it isn't treated it can sometimes result in rheumatic fever, which can damage the valves of the heart.