Sore Throat at Night

Sore throat is a common condition that affects the throat. It is characterized by pain and sometimes there is difficulty in swallowing. The condition can either be caused by viruses or bacteria. This is normally self limiting condition that even without treatment should get away after three to four days or latest by a week. Sore throats that takes more than two weeks suggest a serious condition and must therefore be addressed quickly.

Make sure it is checked whether it is a normal throat. Individuals who have weakened immune system normally have regular sore throats. Check yourself with a qualified doctor to know whether your sore throat is normal or not.

Symptoms of sore throat

In most cases, there is pain. Just like any other infection, there is inflammation of the throat that leads to the pain. Inflammatory factors are triggered by the infecting organism and the body is tries to fight the organisms by recruiting white cells to the area. Substances like histamines are released and there is increased permeability of vessels and capillaries leading to pain and discomfort.

A person may even feel irritated and loose appetite in the long run. When it begins, there is always a tendency of feeling pain in the eyes and an attempt to clear your throat regularly. This is when the organism is increasing in number and your body is trying to fight the disease. It’s always good to know the time of onset and the degree of severity to assist in correct medical interventions.

Whenever one has sore throat, you should always know when it’s worse to contact a doctor if it’s not quickly subsiding. Sometimes, it can even show signs of dehydration due to dry membranes and it causes a lot of pain. Pain normally increases when one is swallowing. Muscles lining the throat become weak because they are not being put in practice as person feels pain and ignores swallowing. Muscles therefore become lazy and swallowing is impaired. Hard foods at this time become a problem and one needs to take fluids and less viscous foods like porridge.

Proper interventions in sore throat can assist a person to feed and stay health. Lack of appetite comes along with this condition and one needs eat. General body weakness may also be observed as the person has no energy due to impaired food intake and swallowing. Throat is normally scratchy and it causes a weird feeling to the person. This can be triggered when one tries to clear the throat or when drinking and eating.

It is normally harassing especially at the beginning of the infection. Taking fluids may be a problem as the scratching is so irritating. If care is not going to be taken, dehydration may occur to the person due to lack of fluids. To check for signs of dehydration, inspect the skin turgor, it normally becomes elastic and turns to be like that one of a baby. The eyes may be bulged inwards and person is weak and faintly.

Causes

Normally, it is viruses that cause this disease. It’s always self limiting if caused by a virus and may stay for a few days and disappear. It’s very hard for viral sore throat to spread to other parts of the body due to tropical specificity of viruses in human body. The other cause is bacterial infections, which can spread to other parts of the body if not well treated. This needs quick treatment and may require antibiotics for them to clear completely. It’s good therefore to take necessary antibiotics after culture and sensitivity.

Fungi are also another cause of sore throat. Treatment of sore throat depends on a well-planned prescription after knowing the causative organism. Many supportive interventions are available but it’s good to have the correct drugs for treatment so as to fully eliminate the disease and ensure full recovery.

Sore throat at night can also be caused by GERD; the coming up of food from the stomach after one has eaten. It normally happens at night when one is sleeping. Food from the stomach contains acid that causes irritation to the throat. This leads to a feeling of soreness because of the inflammation caused by the acid at the throat.

Another cause is muscle straining especially after one spends the whole day straining to talk and making noise everywhere. This makes the muscles of the throat produce a lot of lactic acid that happens to accumulate due to increased metabolism leading to irritation of the sore throat. The muscles may also be tired and sometimes even swallowing may be difficult. It is therefore good that one controls how he/she speaks or uses a microphone when addressing a crowd rather than shouting loudily throughout.

Treatment of sore throat at night

Treatment of sore throat is always easy if one needs to relieve himself or herself from pain. The basic way to go about this is taking antihistamines. These drugs reduce secretions from your throat and ensure your throat is clear from unnecessary fluids that might favor the growth of the organisms.

Anti-inflammatory drugs can play a good part as well. These drugs reduce the inflammation in your throat as well as ensuring that there is no swelling. Through this action, they play a good role in reduction of pain and hence bringing relief to the infected person. If one is allergic to these drugs, acidic fruits like lemon can also help reduce the symptoms.

The other type of treatment is using antibiotics that counter the causative bacterial organisms. Before using antibiotics, correct tests and examination should be done to confirm the microbes. It is normally required that cultures of throat mucus be conducted in the lab and microbial sensitivity be done so as to determine the causative agent.

If the sore throat is caused by viruses then it’s expected to be self limiting. However, one can be given anti viral drugs if they tend not to heal quickly. It is important  to know if you are allergic to these drugs so that proper treatment is used.