Your throat is a tube that carries food to your esophagus and air to your windpipe and larynx. The technical name for throat is pharynx.
You can have a sore throat for many reasons. Often, colds and flu cause sore throats. Other causes can include:
Treatment depends on the cause. Sucking on lozenges, drinking lots of liquids and gargling may ease the pain. Over-the-counter pain relievers can also help, but children should not take aspirin.
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References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
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Date last updated: 23 August 2008 Topic last reviewed: 23 July 2008 |