Things to know about congestive pharyngitis

This is an automatically translated article.

The article was professionally consulted with Specialist Doctor II Nguyen Van Thai - Ear, Nose Throat Doctor - Department of Medical Examination & Internal Medicine - Vinmec Danang International General Hospital.

1. What is congestive pharyngitis?

Congestive pharyngitis is another name for acute pharyngitis, which occurs when the throat mucosa is attacked by viruses or bacteria, causing congestion, swelling, burning pain, and edema. This is a very common disease, can occur in all subjects from adults to children, especially in the winter when the weather changes. The disease can appear separately or appear simultaneously with rhinosinusitis. , VA , rhinitis , tonsillitis ,...

2. Causes of congestive pharyngitis

The main cause of congestive pharyngitis is caused by bacteria and viruses that invade and attack the lining of the throat. These bacteria and viruses are airborne, foodborne or may be related to chickenpox, colds, flu, diphtheria, mumps,...
● Common viral illnesses are: Adenovirus, Influenza virus, para-influenzae virus, Coxskie virus,...
● Common pathogenic bacteria are: Group A, B, C, G beta-hemolytic streptococci; Haemophilus influenzae, Staphylococcus aureus, Moraxella catarrhalis, anaerobic bacteria,..

Predisposing factors for congestive pharyngitis:
● Patients with acid reflux disease, refluxed gastric juice attacks the throat ring, creating conditions for bacteria to enter and cause inflammation.
● The patient's immune system is weakened, creating conditions for bacteria and viruses to attack.
● The living and working environment is polluted, often exposed to dust, toxic chemicals, and cigarette smoke.
● The body cannot adapt to the erratic changes of the weather, the resistance is reduced, the respiratory tract is vulnerable.
● Using hot spicy foods, drinking a lot of cold water damages the throat mucosa.
● People with occupations that require frequent, loud, and talkative speech such as teachers, singers, TV presenters, etc. are at risk of damaging the mucous membranes of the throat.

3. Symptoms of congestive pharyngitis

If the cause of the illness is a virus, the disease usually resolves on its own after 3-5 days, the symptoms will gradually decrease. If the cause of the illness is bacterial, the symptoms will last longer. But in general, regardless of the cause, the common symptoms of congestive pharyngitis are as follows:
● The disease usually occurs suddenly, the patient has a moderate fever of 38-39 degrees or high fever, headache, chills, fatigue, body aches, loss of appetite.
● Sore throat especially when swallowing, swallowing liquid is also painful. A sharp pain in the ear when swallowing, coughing, or speaking.
● The patient has intermittent cough, dry cough or cough with sputum
● Nasal congestion, difficulty breathing, possible nosebleed
● When the doctor examines, the entire throat mucosa will be red and secreted. Lymphatic organizations in the back wall of the pharynx are red, and the capillaries are prominent. The lymph nodes in the jaw are slightly swollen and painful.
If not treated, congestive pharyngitis can progress and cause many dangerous complications such as:
● Common local complications are inflammation or abscesses in the side of the throat, abscesses in the back of the throat. Neck gangrene is a rare complication but difficult to treat, the prognosis is very severe, the patient can die.
● Complications in neighboring organs include pneumonia, otitis media, laryngitis, acute rhinosinusitis.
● Distant complications: if the cause of the disease is hemolytic streptococcus, the patient may experience complications such as arthritis, heart inflammation, nephritis, streptococcal toxic shock or sepsis.

4. Treatment of congestive pharyngitis

As a rule of thumb, in the absence of viral or bacterial testing, congestive pharyngitis in patients over 3 years of age should be treated as acute streptococcal pharyngitis. The treatment is a combination of antibiotics, symptomatic drugs that help reduce fever, pain, anti-inflammatory and topical medications.

Regarding specific treatment, commonly used drugs are:
Antibiotics:
● Penicillin V, Penicillin G, 1st generation Cephalosporins (such as Cefalexin, Cefadroxil,...) or Penicillin A (Amoxicillin)
If disease Patients allergic to beta lactam group can switch to Macrolide group with Erythromycin, Clarithromycin, Azithromycin,...
● When the results of the antibiotic test are available, change the drug to match the antibiotic chart.
Treatment of symptoms:
● Antipyretic, analgesic: Paracetamol, Ibuprofen, Aspirin,...
● Anti-inflammatory drug: Prednisolone, Methylprednisolone, Alphachymotrypsin, ..
Local treatment: gargle with saline For treatment, use lozenges containing essential oils of menthol, tea, ginger, honey... to help disinfect, relieve cough, and soothe the throat.
During the disease, patients need to strengthen their nutrition to increase resistance, helping to shorten the duration of the disease. The foods that should be eaten are foods rich in zinc such as cereals, seafood, radishes, bananas, ..; foods rich in vitamin C such as oranges, lemons, grapefruits; protein-rich foods such as eggs, meat, fish, milk; Drink a lot of water, ginger tea, honey,...
Foods that should be avoided during congestive sore throat are hot, spicy, greasy foods, cold carbonated drinks, alcohol, beer and foods. Sweets, lots of sugar.

5. Prevention of congestive pharyngitis

Congestive pharyngitis causes many symptoms that make patients uncomfortable, greatly affecting work and daily life. To limit the risk of disease, people should clean their ears, nose and throat regularly, wear masks to avoid contact with dust and chemicals, and wash their hands often with soap. Avoid contact with people who are sick with flu, upper respiratory infection. Good nutrition along with regular exercise to increase the body's resistance.
Vinmec International General Hospital is one of the hospitals that not only ensures professional quality with a team of leading medical doctors, modern equipment and technology, but also stands out for its examination and consultation services. comprehensive and professional medical consultation and treatment; civilized, polite, safe and sterile medical examination and treatment space.
BSCK II Nguyen Van Thai was formerly a Doctor of Otolaryngology and Head and Neck Surgery at the Department of Otolaryngology - Hue Central Hospital with more than 17 years of treatment experience, especially in the field of Head and Neck Surgery. Currently, he is an Otolaryngologist at the Inter-Specialist Clinic of the Department of Medical Examination and Internal Medicine, Vinmec Da Nang International General Hospital.
Customers can directly go to Vinmec Health system nationwide to visit or contact the hotline here for support.
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