Most commonly, there are sore throats during the period of virus diseases, but perhaps the cause of sore throat may be hidden elsewhere, for example, reflux disease (GERD). The first symptom of a viral illness is often a scratchy feeling in the throat and/or mild pain in swallowing, which can sometimes radiating to the ear. Typically, runny nose and coughing are accompanied with the throat pain.

The most common causes of sore throat are:

• Acute viral inflammation (rhinovirus, adenovirus, influenza, etc.
• Tonsillitis (acute or chronical)
• Throat trauma
• Epiglotitis or acute laryngeal inflammation
• Peritonsillarabscess

The rare reasons can be:

• foreign body respiratory tract
• infectious mononucleosis
• neoplastic process
• thyroid gland enlargement
• diphtheria
• pertussis

If your sore throat is caused by a bacterial infection, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics. If a sore throat is a symptom of a condition other than a viral or bacterial infection, other treatments will likely be considered depending on the diagnosis.

Case of viral infection:

• throat spray
• throat pastilles
• herbal preparations (tonsilgon)
• gargle with salt water
• fluid intake
• cool steam (nebuliser)

The family doctor/family nurse should be contacted when:

• breathing difficulties occur
• it is difficult to swallow
• high fever persists
• irregular tonsils
• after a week, the throat has not relieved/disappeared
• sore throat is common
• to receive home treatment recommendations