pharyngitis

DESCRIPTION

• Pharyngitis, or sore throat, is discomfort, pain, or scratchiness in the throat. It often makes it painful to swallow.

CAUSES

• Pharyngitis is caused by swelling in the back of the throat between the tonsils and the larynx.
• Most sore throats are caused by colds or the flu
• Coxsackie virus or mononucleosis can also cause sore throat.

SYMPTOMS

• Fever
• Headache
• Joint pain & muscle aches
• Skin rashes

TREATMENTS

• Drink warm liquids such as lemon tea or tea with honey.
• Gargle several times a day with warm salt water (1/2 tsp of salt in 1 cup water).
• Drink cold liquids or suck on frozen fruit-flavored ice pops.
• Use a cool-mist vaporizer or humidifier can moisten and soothe a dry and painful throat.

PREVENTIONS

• washing your hands regularly and properly, particularly after touching your nose or mouth and before handling food
• always sneezing and coughing into tissues, then throwing away the used tissues and washing your hands
• cleaning surfaces regularly to keep them free of germs
• not sharing cups, plates, cutlery or kitchen utensils with others

PROGNOSIS

• Almost all people with viral and strep pharyngitis recover completely without complications.

RESOURCES

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmedhealth/PMH0001678/#adam_000655.disease.si...