Also called: Also called: Pharyngitis
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:
- Allergies
- Mononucleosis
- Smoking
- Strep throat
- Tonsillitis - an infection in the tonsils
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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JAMA Patient Page: Sore Throat(American Medical Association) - http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/reprint/291/13/1664.pdf
Also available in Spanish http://jama.ama-assn.org/cgi/data/291/13/1664/DC1/1
- Have a Sore Throat? Know When It's Time To Call the Doctor(American Osteopathic Association) - http://www.osteopathic.org/index.cfm?PageID=you_sorethroat
- Sore Throat (Pharyngitis)(Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research) - http://www.mayoclinic.com/print/sore-throat/DS00526/DSECTION=all&METHOD=print
- Throat Problems(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/tools/symptom/515.printerview.html
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Sore Throat: Easing the Pain of a Sore Throat(American Academy of Family Physicians) - http://familydoctor.org/online/famdocen/home/common/infections/cold-flu/163.printerview.html
Also available in Spanish http://familydoctor.org/online/famdoces/home/common/infections/cold-flu/163.printerview.html
- Will Antibiotics Help Your Sore Throat?(American Association for Clinical Chemistry) - http://www.labtestsonline.org/news/strep051202.html
- Sore or Irritated Mouth or Throat(American Cancer Society) - http://www.cancer.org/docroot/MBC/content/MBC_6_2x_Sore_or_Irritated_Mouth_or_Throat.asp?sitearea=MBC
- Sore Throat and Breast Cancer Treatment(Breastcancer.org) - http://www.breastcancer.org/treatment/side_effects/sore_throat.jsp
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ClinicalTrials.gov: Pharyngitis
(National Institutes of Health) - http://clinicaltrials.gov/search/open/condition=%22Pharyngitis%22
References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)
- Article: Effectiveness and safety of short-course vs long-course antibiotic therapy for... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18674472&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: A school-based program for control of group a streptococcal upper... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18664988&tool=MedlinePlus
- Article: Comparison of the effect of benzathine penicillin G, clarithromycin, cefprozil... - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=Retrieve&db=pubmed&dopt=AbstractPlus&list_uids=18664074&tool=MedlinePlus
- Sore Throat -- see more articles - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?cmd=search&db=pubmed&term=pharyngitis[majr]+AND+english[la]+AND+humans[mh]+NOT+(letter[pt]+OR+editorial[pt])&doptcmdl=summary&cmd_current=Limits&pmfilter_EDatLimit=last+1+Year&tool=MedlinePlus
- Find an Otolaryngologist (ENT)(American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery) - http://www.entnet.org//findanentmore.cfm
- American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery - http://www.entnet.org/
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National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders - http://www.nidcd.nih.gov/
- How Can I Tell If a Sore Throat Is a Virus or a More Serious Infection?(American Academy of Pediatrics) - http://www.aap.org/publiced/BK0_SoreThroat.htm
- Throat Disorders - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/throatdisorders.html
- Ear, Nose and Throat - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/earnoseandthroat.html
Sore Throat - Multiple Languages - http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/languages/sorethroat.html