Sore Throat: How to Feel Better

We’ve all suffered from a terrible sore throat, dry throat or itchy throat and you know how awful a bad episode of throat pain can make you feel! At our ENT clinic in Singapore, many patients with sore throat problems come to seek our help as an experienced ENT specialist. We see children and adults with sore throats all the time and know how important it is to identify the cause to successfully treat it.

Sore throat has many different causes so it is important to take a detailed history and perform a careful examination of the ears, nose and throat to find out why you are suffering from a sore throat. The causes of sore throat may be different in children and adults.

In people with recurrent sore throats, it may be due to tonsil infection or tonsillitis. Tonsillitis can be so painful for the throat that it may affect your ability to eat and drink properly. Some patients may have to be admitted to hospital to be given an intravenous (IV) drip of antibiotics for their sore throat because they are unable to swallow their medications due to the throat pain. If the tonsillitis is caused by Group A streptococcus (group A Strep), a nasty type of bacteria found in the throat, then it is important to start a course of penicillin. Group A Strep throat infections may sometimes also cause a specific rash on the legs.

Recurrent tonsil infections may lead to surgery to remove the tonsils (tonsillectomy) so that tonsillitis can no longer recur. This may be done as a daycase procedure but many patients choose to stay overnight in hospital and go home the next day. There is a 2% risk of postop bleeding in the first 2 weeks after surgery, due to infection, so it is best not to travel overseas during this time. I always advise my tonsillectomy patients to stay put and rest in Singapore just in case.

Other common conditions which may cause a sore throat include an infected drip of mucus coming from the back of the nose. If you suffer from sinusitis or sinus infections or nasal allergy, then it is quite common to get a persistent sore throat due to this postnasal drip. The right medications will usually do the trick of helping you to feel better!

Acid reflux from the stomach may also lead to the backflow of acid juices up the food passage into your throat to result in a dry throat or sore throat. Sometimes this may cause a dry persistent cough and may not necessarily cause any heartburn or indigestion symptoms. Again, diagnosis is key so that the right medications may be prescribed for you to feel better. Some lifestyle modification tips are also invaluable to help sort acid reflux out for you.

A final note on sore throats: If you smoke and your sore throat just doesn’t seem to be getting better, then it is very important that you get your throat properly checked out by your top ENT specialist with a nasoendoscope to rule out any sinister conditions like throat cancer.

Here are Dr Annabelle’s tips on how to avoid getting a sore throat:

1. Stop smoking! The toxins in cigarette smoke constantly irritate the delicate lining of the nose, throat and airways, leading to an increase in mucus production.
2. Drink 6-8 glasses of water daily to keep well-hydrated.
3. Using a Betadine throat spray when you start to feel the sore throat coming on, may help to cleanse the throat to prevent a full flare-up from occurring.
4. Control risk factors for acid reflux/indigestion eg. Don’t overeat, don’t drink too much alcohol and don’t eat late at night.
5. Consider getting regular flu jabs.

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