Sore Throats

What causes sore throats?

Sore throats can be caused by many things. Viruses (like colds, flu, or mononucleosis), bacteria (like Strep), allergies, smoking, and breathing polluted air can all cause your throat to be sore. Unlike bacteria, viruses do not respond to antibiotics.

Viruses

Sore throats that accompany viruses like flu and colds typically take a week or so to get better. Sore throats can also accompany other viral infections such as measles, chicken pox, whooping cough, and croup.

Mononucleosis, or "mono", is a virus that lodges in the lymph system causing the tonsils to enlarge and have white patches on their surface. It also brings about swollen glands in the neck, armpits, and groin areas. The sore throat that accompanies mono is quite bad and can sometimes cause breathing difficulties. Mono sometimes affects the liver, causing jaundice— yellow skin and eyes. It also causes extreme fatigue that can last six weeks or more.

Mono is usually more severe in teenagers than in younger children and can be transmitted by saliva (hence its nickname the "kissing disease"). Other contact, hand-to-mouth contact for instance, can also spread the mono virus.

Bacteria

Strep throat is caused by a type of bacteria called Streptococcus. The pain of strep throat often feels much like sore throats caused by other bacteria or by viruses. What's different (and important to remember) 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. The strep infection can also damage the kidneys, cause scarlet fever, tonsillitis, pneumonia, sinusitis, and ear infections.

Strep usually requires a throat culture to confirm the diagnosis. When you have a positive strep test, antibiotics will be prescribed.

Infections in the nose and sinuses also can cause sore throats, because mucus from the nose drains down into the throat and carries the infection with it.

Allergies

The same pollens and molds that irritate the nose when they are inhaled also may irritate the throat. Cat and dog danders and house dust are common causes of sore throats for people with allergies to them.

Irritation

Sometimes your throat will be dry because of dry heat, especially during the cold winter months. This can turn into a mild, chronic sore throat, particularly in the mornings. Running a humidifier at night and increasing the amount of fluids you drink can help. If you also have a chronic stuffy nose, you may have a dry throat because you're having to breath through your mouth. This problem may be corrected by an examination and treatment of the nose.

Air pollutants, particularly tobacco smoke, irritate the nose and throat causing it to be sore temporarily. Other irritants include smokeless tobacco, alcoholic beverages, and spicy foods.

Reflux

Reflux is another cause of sore throat. If your throat is sore in the morning, you may have a reflux problem. Reflux is the regurgitation of stomach acids up into the back of your throat. You can try to prevent reflux by tilting your bedframe so that the head of the bed is elevated four- to six-inches higher than the foot. Other things that can help include antacids, avoiding eating three hours before bedtime, and eliminating caffeine and alcohol.