What Is the Difference Between a Sore Throat and Laryngitis?

Sore throat is one of the most common conditions. It occurs in the cold season of the year. Colds, tonsillitis, sinusitis, pertussis, sore throat, viral infections and even myocardial infarction can cause sore throats.

Basic Information

English name

sore throat

Visiting department

Otorhinolaryngology head and neck surgery

Common locations

throat

Common causes

Caused by viruses, bacteria, allergic reactions, dust, smoke, exhaust gas, etc.

Common symptoms

Sore throat, with runny nose, fever, hoarseness, chest tightness, etc.

Contagious

no

Causes of sore throat

Anything that irritates the throat and oral mucosa can cause sore throat. They include: viruses, bacterial infections, allergic reactions, dust, cigarettes, fumes, hot drinks or food, tooth or gum infections that sometimes affect the throat, chronic cough, extremely dry environment, gastroesophageal reflux, and loud speech. It can irritate the throat, and hoarseness is a common accompanying symptom. Common symptoms of sore throat include systemic viral infections, mumps, pharyngitis or tonsillitis, colds, and laryngitis.

Sore throat clinical manifestations

The sore throat symptoms associated with different causes are different, such as:

Nasopharyngeal inflammation

During the acute inflammation of the nasopharynx, the patient will feel a dry feeling, and at the same time, the blood vessels in the inflammation phase will be dilated, which will cause the patient to have a slight bloodyness when the snot is sucked out.

2. Oropharyngeal inflammation

The symptoms of oropharyngeal inflammation are mostly acute tonsillitis and acute pharyngitis. These two conditions are mostly related to colds. In acute inflammation of the tonsils, the patient feels sore throat, accompanied by moderate or high fever, and in severe cases, tonsils may swell and purify.

3. Inflammation of the throat

The inflammation of the larynx is mostly acute epiglottis and acute laryngitis. Acute epiglottis is one of the most common critical illnesses in Otorhinolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery. Patients often feel that the throat is very painful, and even dare not swallow food. There is a sound of water when talking. At the same time, the throat is still blocked. It can cause breathing difficulties and life-threatening. Patients encounter this situation, they must go to the hospital's ENT department as soon as possible. Patients also had sore throat and foreign body sensation during the onset of acute laryngitis, but there was a significant difference from acute epiglottis. The patient's voice was hoarse, not watery.

4. Non-inflammatory diseases

There are many causes of sore throats, and they are complicated, not all of which are caused by inflammation. Such as glossopharyngeal neuralgia, external stimuli, oral ulcers, etc. can cause sore throat.

(1) Most of the pain caused by glossopharyngeal neuralgia is one side pain, and the pain is more severe. There is no certain reason. After using anti-inflammatory drugs, the symptoms did not improve significantly. At this time, doctors recommend the use of analgesics for treating trigeminal neuralgia. The medicine eliminates pain.

(2) Pain caused by styloid process on one side of the pharynx, which is more pronounced when swallowing. Unlike glossopharyngeal neuralgia, this pain radiates up and down on the same side of the pharynx. Patients need to go to the hospital as soon as possible to make a diagnosis.

(3) Mouth ulcers Mouth ulcers caused by vitamin deficiency and other reasons are mostly self-healing diseases, which will heal within 7 to 10 days. During the onset of the disease, it will cause persistent pain in the pharynx. Some malignant and persistent oral ulcers require active treatment.

5. External stimulus

Certain external stimuli can also cause sore throat. For example, eating too much sunflower seeds will cause throat irritation, which will cause non-inflammatory pain in lymphoid tissues. Drinking more water or taking fire-fighting Chinese medicine will improve.

6. Other

(1) Tumors such as tonsil tumors, laryngeal cancer, and nasopharyngeal cancer do not have obvious pain in the early stage. Patients often feel that their condition has reached middle to advanced stage when they feel pain. Therefore, these throat diseases without pain need more attention. Once you feel foreign body sensation in the pharynx, blood in the nose, numbness on the face, and poorly moving masses behind the ears, you should seek medical treatment as soon as possible. an examination.

(2) Sore throat in myocardial infarction . If no clear cause can be found, accompanied by chest tightness, sweating or nausea, we should be alert to the occurrence of myocardial infarction. This is because the nerves of the throat and heart are dominated by the spinal nerves of the same segment. When myocardial ischemia and hypoxia, acidic substances such as lactic acid, pyruvate, phosphoric acid and peptides that are produced can stimulate nerves to produce pain and spread to The vagus nerve in the pharynx causes symptoms of sore throat. Therefore, the elderly with hypertension and coronary heart disease should be careful when sore throat occurs. It is best to rest in bed to avoid excessive mental stress. Take nitroglycerin under the tongue and seek medical treatment immediately.

Sore throat treatment

Corresponding treatment is given according to different causes.