Pharyngitis: Most Painful Throat Inflammation!

Is your child more often complaining about discomfort and pain in his/her throat?

Pharyngitis is a very common inflammation of throat which is mostly seen in children.

This inflammation is mostly caused due to viral infection in throat and is mainly characterized with a severe pain, discomfort or feeling of scratchiness in throat.

Pharyngitis can be caused by a variety of micro organisms and in most of the cases, it is mainly caused due to viral infection in throat and the causes for this inflammation include common cold, influenza, HIV, mononucleosis and also there are many other causes for throat inflammation.

Bacteria responsible to cause severe form of pharyngitis (strep throat) include group-A streptococcus, which is the main cause for 15% of all strep throat cases.

Certain other types of bacteria which rarely form sore throat include arconobacterium, Chlamydia pneumonia, and corynebacterium and also neisseria gonorrhea. In some cases of throat infections, the micro organism responsible for the disease is difficult to identify.

The most common manifestations associated with pharyngitis include:

  • Strep throat associated with fever, head ache, raw or sore throat, swollen lymph nodes in the neck and also some times you can experience earache.
  • If you are associated with most severe forms of throat infection, then you can feel difficulty in swallowing food or any fluids including saliva and very rarely you can feel difficulty in breathing.
  • If you are affected with viral pharyngitis, then you can experience running nose and post nasal drip.

Pharyngitis can appear in these three forms:

  • Non exudative: Even though group-A streptococcus can cause non exudative pharyngitis, most of the non exudative sore throats are due to viral inflammations.
  • Exudative: Group-A streptococcus is the most common cause for exudative inflammation of throat. Beta-hemolytic streptococcus bacterium is also associated with exudative pharyngitis.
  • Ulcerative: Coxsackievirus and herpes virus are the most common causes to develop ulcerative pharyngitis. Poor oral hygiene is also one of the major causes for ulcerative throat inflammations.

Try to avoid alcohol and gargle with half teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water for several times in a day in order to prevent the inflammation in your throat. This method is also useful for you to get relief from the pain caused due to inflammation and also gives you a better oral hygiene.