Content
To escape the summer heat, many people in large quantities drinking cold water and deliberately look for drafts, completely forgetting about caution. As a result of this behavior, sore throat often occurs.
Contrary to popular belief, a sore throat is not caused by hypothermia - it is infectious disease, the causative agent of which is streptococci. Even the most strong immunity will weaken under the influence of ice water, constantly running air conditioning and kilograms of ice cream, and will not be able to protect against a sore throat.
Timely diagnosis
The incubation period for angina takes up to 2 days. The first symptoms of this disease are headaches, chills and difficulty swallowing. With angina, the following are also observed:
- Weakness;
- High temperature;
- Plaque on the tonsils;
- Enlarged lymph nodes.
In its symptoms, a sore throat is very similar to a cold, but it takes longer and is more difficult to develop. The infection can lead to complications with the joints, heart, or kidneys. Purulent sore throat can provoke the formation of an abscess, and even blood poisoning. Therefore, it is necessary to diagnose the disease as early as possible and begin its treatment immediately.
Treatment methods
Some believe that for successful treatment For sore throats, it is enough to gargle regularly. Of course, you need to gargle, but you cannot neglect medications, since herbal decoctions and infusions do not fight bacteria as effectively as antibiotics.
For treatment viral infection the necessary painkillers, antiseptics and home regimen, and taking antibiotics can speed up the healing process for a bacterial infection.
If symptoms of sore throat occur, you should contact a specialist who will identify the causative agent of the disease and prescribe the most effective treatment. In addition, a number of conditions must be met:
- Compresses on the throat;
- Antibiotics;
- Bed rest;
- Regular gargling.
To eliminate swelling of the throat are prescribed antihistamines. Typically, treatment for sore throat lasts from 10 to 14 days, but if the condition improves earlier, you should not stop taking the medications. The disease must be fully treated so as not to provoke complications.
Folk recipes
For hundreds of years, traditional medicine recipes helped our ancestors fight tonsillitis.
Saline solution
To cook saline solution To gargle, you need to dissolve 1 tsp in a glass of water. salt. You need to gargle with this solution every 2 hours. This remedy effectively relieves inflammation and washes away nasal mucus that irritates the throat.
carrot juice
Fresh carrot juice contains microelements that have a beneficial effect on the microflora of the tonsils, eliminate viruses and relieve pain. Rinse carrot juice best before meals.
Garlic tincture
To prepare the infusion, pour a glass boiled water 100 g finely chopped garlic. The solution should be left for 4 to 6 hours, strained, heated and gargled with it.
Onion compress
To prepare a highly effective compress, you need to grate an onion, squeeze out the resulting pulp, put it on gauze, and then wrap it in a compress. sore throat. Cover the compress with cellophane on top and wrap your neck with a scarf. You can also take onion juice internally. Take it up to 4 times a day, 1 tbsp. l.
Apple cider vinegar and honey
To prepare this product you need 1 tbsp. honey and 1 tsp. apple cider vinegar dissolve in a glass of water. The product is consumed after meals several times a day in small sips. Honey and vinegar are great at fighting germs and viruses.
Precautions
In summer, stores are overflowing with fresh fruits and vegetables, we consume much more vitamins than in winter, but sore throat is a very common disease in the warm season.
The main reason for summer colds is a weakened immune system. In summer it is reduced by exposure to the sun. It only takes a short amount of time near the air conditioner to catch a cold. You could sit by an open window in winter with the same result. If the car does not have air conditioning, drivers open the windows while driving, which also contributes to the development of sore throat.
Everyone understands that sitting under an air conditioner is quite dangerous, but sometimes it is simply unavoidable. This applies to a greater extent to the car. To prevent your car from overheating, use a reflective screen. Before driving anywhere, start the engine, turn on the air conditioning and stay outside for a few minutes. After this, you can make the air conditioner warmer. Do not direct the air ducts towards the chest or face.
It is best to drink chilled drinks without a straw and in small sips. In this case, the drink will have time to warm up in your mouth and will not go down your throat so cold.
If you feel that you are starting to get sick, honey, citrus fruits, alkaline mineral water, milk and fresh air will help you overcome the impending illness.
On sea resorts Walk more without shoes on hot pebbles and sand, and in the mountains or forest - on a warm clearing.
Another summer danger is soft drinks. In the summer, we try to buy the coldest bottle in the store mineral water or beer, and the colder it is, the better. For some people, such a drink will do absolutely no harm and will really refresh them. But if your immune system is weakened, one sip of ice-cold liquid may be enough to give you a sore throat. As a result of a sharp cooling of the pharynx, various pathogenic viruses and bacteria that are constantly present in the nasopharynx are activated.
Just a quarter of a century ago, tonsillitis usually occurred in the spring or autumn. And they justified this by the cold (autumn) or weakened immunity (spring). Now summer is not at all uncommon and is becoming angrier. What's the matter? Why choose summer?
According to doctors, the increase in the number of people suffering from sore throat at this time of year is a kind of payment for comfort.
Otolaryngologist Galina Vorobyeva talks about how “summer pathology” now proceeds - how its prevention and treatment are ensured
On the hottest day, you can get an ice-cold, frost-covered carbonated drink or ice cream at any kiosk, and large stores or offices have air conditioning. And all around are salespeople sneezing and coughing. And if, once in a cool place, a person also drinks a bottle of ice-cold liquid or eats ice cream, a blow to the tonsils is guaranteed. And tonsils are capricious and delicate creatures.
The causative agent of sore throat is microbes of the pyogenic group, mainly streptococci, and less commonly pneumococci. The infection can be introduced from the outside or occur as a result of an increase in the virulence of microorganisms that are constantly located in the lacunae of the tonsil, in the oral cavity and pharynx. The source of infection is often purulent diseases nose and paranasal sinuses, teeth. The source of infection is patients with tonsillitis, as well as healthy carriers of streptococci. The main route of infection is airborne. The ability of angina pathogens to reproduce on certain species food products serves as a prerequisite for the occurrence of food outbreaks of the disease. Sore throat can occur in different forms. The most common of them is catarrhal.
Patients' complaints initially consist of dryness and soreness in the throat. Then moderate sore throat appears, body temperature rises slightly. Noted headache and general weakness. On examination, the palatine tonsils are swollen and very red; their surface is covered with mucous discharge. The submandibular lymph nodes may be slightly enlarged and slightly painful. With treatment, the disease usually ends in 3-5 days.
Follicular and lacunar
Usually it is more severe, with pronounced intoxication. The onset is sudden, with chills and a sharp increase in body temperature. Pain in the throat is especially worse when swallowing, sometimes radiating to the ear. Characterized by general weakness, headache, pain in the limbs and lower back. In the blood: expressed with a shift to the left, ESR increased to 40-50 mm/h. When examining the pharynx, pronounced hyperemia and infiltration of the palatine arches, swelling of the palatine tonsils are noted. With follicular tonsillitis, round whitish-yellow dots are visible on the reddened tonsils. These are suppurating follicles of the palatine tonsils, located under the mucous membrane, which cannot be removed with a cotton swab or spatula. With lacunar tonsillitis, yellowish membranous deposits emanating from the lacunae are found on the reddened tonsils. They are usually located on the surface of the palatine tonsils in patches; in some cases, a filmy plaque covers the entire surface of the palatine tonsil.
This is called confluent lacunar. The plaque does not extend beyond the tonsils and is easily removed with a cotton swab or spatula. The surface of the tonsil becomes even, smooth, without erosions and bleeding, which distinguishes lacunar tonsillitis from diphtheria.Diphtheritic
Characterized by massive, gray-dirty filmy deposits not only on the tonsils, but also on the soft palate, uvula, back wall pharynx, larynx, nasal cavity, etc. They are held tightly, as if welded to the underlying tissue. After their removal, erosion and bleeding of the mucous membrane are clearly visible. With this disease, if not carried out in a timely manner therapeutic measures, damage to the neuromuscular tissue of the pharynx, larynx, limbs, heart muscle (myocardium), etc. may occur.
Membranous-ulcerative
It is relatively rare and mainly affects one tonsil. General condition remains satisfactory. A delicate thin coating of yellowish color forms on the affected tonsil, which is easily removed with a cotton swab, after which a shallow patch remains. The ulcerative lesion progresses. From the 2-3rd day of the disease appears bad smell from the mouth, the lymph nodes in the neck may be enlarged and slightly painful. Peritonsillar may develop - purulent inflammation fiber surrounding the tonsil due to the penetration of infection from the depths of the lacuna. Mostly children from 7 years of age are affected. More often it is one-sided. Characterized by high body temperature (up to 40 °), unilateral sharp pains when swallowing, radiating into the ear,
refusal to eat. On the affected side, the lymph nodes swell and become sharply painful on palpation. In the blood: high with a shift to the left, increased ESR. Pharyngoscopy reveals accumulation of viscous mucus in the oral cavity, sharp swelling of the soft palate and anterior palatine arch on one side, the tonsil is pushed inward, downward and anteriorly, the uvula is swollen, glassy, deviated to the healthy side, asymmetry in the pharynx.Complications
Patients with tonsillitis may experience complications - peritonsillitis and peritonsillar. They tend to occur in people who are hospitalized in a relatively late dates- after the 3rd day from the moment of illness. Peritonsillitis and peritonsillar have similar symptoms. In addition to complications, angina can cause metatonsillar diseases - infectious-allergic and cholecystocholangitis. May be observed in 0.8% with primary angina and 3.0% with repeated forms of the disease. Myocarditis develops with primary angina in the first days of the convalescence period, and with repeated angina - from the first days of the disease. It rarely presents with the classic symptoms of this disease. Most often, the only sign a is persistent changes in the electrocardiogram, indicating focal damage to the heart muscle, and a moderate increase in the 1st-2nd fractions of lactate dehydrogenase.
The development of a corresponds to the time of formation of autoimmune (against kidney tissue) and immunopathological factors on the 5-6th day normal temperature body (8-10th day of disease).
Glomerulonephritis occurs without extrarenal symptoms. Its only manifestation is persistent urinary syndrome in the form of moderate proteinuria (0.033-0.099 g/l), leukocyturia (10-50 cells per field of view in a urine sediment preparation), erythrocyturia (3-20 cells per field of view) and cylindruria.Treatment
The patient is prescribed bed rest, liquid fortified food is recommended, drinking plenty of fluids. From medicines used internally acetylsalicylic acid(0.5 g) with caffeine (0.05 g) 1 tablet 2-3 times a day and sulfonamide drugs (sulfadimezin, sulfadimethoxine). In more severe cases, especially when combined with other diseases, antibiotics must be prescribed.
Prevention
Rehabilitation of the upper respiratory tract(elimination of adenoids, hypertrophic a, deviated nasal septum,
Elizaveta Vasilyeva
It is well known that sore throat most often visits us in spring and autumn. But in lately doctors began to characterize it as a seasonal summer disease. The head of the department of pathology of the upper respiratory tract of the Moscow Research Institute of Ear, Throat, Nose, candidate, will help us understand in more detail the features of this disease medical sciences Maxim Nikolaevich SHUBIN.
THE INCREASE in the incidence of sore throat in the summer is a kind of payment for comfort. How could we, 15 years ago, on a hot summer day, get an absolutely ice-cold, frost-covered carbonated drink on any corner? Or powerful air conditioners that blast us with deadly cold as soon as we enter a store or office? But if, after a 30-degree heat, you find yourself in conditions of +18°C, then, without having good health, you can probably get sick.
Is it a sore throat?
HOWEVER, if you have a sore throat or a runny nose, do not rush to the conclusion that it is a sore throat. With classic sore throat, there is no runny nose or cough. But definitely - pronounced pain in the throat, elevated temperature, body aches, possible headache. If, in addition, white or dirty gray deposits are found in the throat, there is almost no doubt.
Sore throat should not be confused with diseases such as tonsillitis, pharyngitis or laryngitis. This is an independent acute infectious disease that affects the palatine, nasopharyngeal and lingual tonsils and is caused by opportunistic bacteria. These bacteria can be present in the human body all the time and attack it when it is weakened - for example, after hypothermia or physical stress. Unlike tonsillitis, pharyngitis and laryngitis are more often caused by viruses.
Acute tonsillitis (inflammation of the tonsils) can be either a manifestation of a sore throat or an acute respiratory viral infection (ARVI). By the way, there is a misconception that sore throat occurs more often in those who suffer from chronic tonsillitis or pharyngitis. In fact, people with absolutely healthy throats are equally affected by it.
The question is, why is it so important to distinguish one disease from another? The answer is simple - if you do not recognize a sore throat and limit yourself solely to gargling, then in other cases you can start the disease. If, on the contrary, a common acute respiratory infection is mistaken for a sore throat and antibiotics are unreasonably prescribed, then this will lead to a decrease in immunity, destruction beneficial microflora nasopharynx, the emergence of resistant, that is, resistant to this medicine, strains of bacteria.
In addition, you should not endure a sore throat on your legs like a common cold - it is fraught with serious complications.
Is it easy to get infected?
THERE IS a common misconception that in order to become infected with a sore throat, you need to come into fairly close contact with the sick person - for example, kiss him on the lips. In fact, it is much easier to catch a sore throat, because it is transmitted mainly by airborne droplets. This means that the infection can spread even when talking at close range. Do not share utensils, towels, pillowcases, or handkerchiefs with the patient.
Therefore, if someone in your house is sick, try to isolate him from others if possible - place him in a separate room (or at least fence him off with a screen), provide him with personal dishes, towels, when caring for the sick person, do not be too lazy to put on a mask or at least gauze bandage.
Treating a sore throat is a serious matter.
Anyone who thinks that the main thing in treating a sore throat is to relieve a sore throat is MISTAKEN. No one argues that pain when swallowing and body aches are not pleasant sensations, so from the very first minutes you feel these symptoms, you can take some measures yourself. For example, use drugs based on paracetamol - Nurofen, Strepsils, Coldrex, which simultaneously relieve a sore throat and lower the temperature. To remove toxins, you need to drink more - sweet tea with lemon, cranberry juice, warm fruit juice or compote. Your next step should be to call a doctor.
This needs to be done for several reasons. Firstly, such a formidable disease as diphtheria is well disguised as the symptoms of a sore throat. It should be detected as early as possible - after all, today almost none of the diphtheria patients die from suffocation, which can be neutralized with the help of modern means. Fatal outcome is almost always associated with that severe intoxication that immediately begins to affect the heart and kidneys. There are many indirect methods for detecting diphtheria clinical signs, but only gives one hundred percent confidence special smear from the throat - to Lefler's bacillus.
Secondly, the doctor must prescribe serious treatment- in addition to sprays and lozenges. The most common causative agents of sore throat today are Staphylococcus aureus, epidermal staphylococcus, hemolytic streptococcus and fungal infections are less common. Similar bacterial infection usually requires the use of antibiotics.
It is very important to choose the right drug. Big problem all over the world and in our country - antibiotic resistance, that is, the emergence in the human body of bacterial strains that are resistant to a number of antibiotics. The reason for this is the uncontrolled use of drugs. A person may decide to “take” antibiotics, which in fact have no effect on the bacteria that caused the disease, or, having started treatment, stop taking the drugs after 1-2 days, although in fact the treatment should last, as a rule, at least 5 days. 7 days.
Ideally, before a doctor prescribes a medicine, you need to take a throat swab to find out exactly what type of bacteria is causing the disease and what medications can neutralize their effect. In fact, this is almost impossible to do, since there are no express tests with quick results in our clinics, and antibiotics must be prescribed in the very first hours of the disease. Therefore, various regimens of rational antibiotic therapy have now been developed that make it possible to influence the main groups of bacteria that cause sore throat. The doctor needs 2-3 days to check the effectiveness of a particular drug; if there is no result, another drug should be immediately prescribed.
It is also not recommended to be left alone with a sore throat because you need to be examined - a urine and blood test, a cardiogram will show whether your “simple” disease has been complicated by such unpleasant ailments as infectious myocarditis, endocarditis, pyelonephritis, nephritis.
A sore throat has insidious consequences - suffice it to say that the main providers of rheumatism are patients with recurrent sore throats. Sometimes a sore throat causes sinusitis, bronchitis, and other respiratory diseases. An untreated infection results in recurrences of the disease, which can further provoke chronic tonsillitis. Finally, the most dangerous are local complications, inflammation of the tissues around the tonsils - paratonsillitis and parapharyngitis, the first sign of which is a sharp increase in pain on one side of the larynx, limited mobility of the masticatory muscles, difficulty turning the head from side to side. Development of this dangerous complication occurs within a day, and sometimes in a matter of hours and requires prompt hospitalization and emergency measures, sometimes surgical.
Any infectious disease has a certain development - sore throat is no exception. If you feel better the next day after taking an antibiotic, this does not mean that a week on sick leave is enough for you. It must be remembered that most complications develop during the recovery period. The minimum treatment period is 10-12 days, and then hypothermia should not be allowed for another two weeks, physical activity. The desire to save a day or two for work will then be paid for by years of serious illness.
Independently and as prescribed by a doctor
ALREADY in the first hours of illness you can use tableted antiseptics. You must choose what will help you, and the list of such drugs is large. For example, antibacterial, antifungal antiseptics with local anesthetic action - strepsils, sebidin, stopangin, drill, faringosept, antifungal and antiviral drug laripront, antibiotic local action, which has an effect on staphylococci and streptococci - gramicidin C, etc.
To this you can add rinses using medications such as furacillin (dissolve 1 tablet in a glass of water), alcohol solution of chlorophyllipt (teaspoon per glass of water), rotokan (same dosage), iodinol, throat lubricants - Lugol's solution with glycerin, propolis with honey, oil solution of chlorophyllipt, etc. Local preparations can be combined - for example, dissolve one tablet 10 minutes after rinsing.
As already mentioned, the choice of antibiotics is the exclusive responsibility of the doctor. He may prescribe drugs from the penicillin group, such as oxacillin, ampicillin, smallpox, augmentin, flemoxin solutab, etc. In more difficult cases antibiotics of the macrolide group are prescribed - such as macropen, sumamed. Finally, the antibiotics of the last group of choice are cephalosporins - cefosin, etc.
The doctor may also recommend one of the aerosol preparations, which are also local antiseptic and anti-inflammatory agents - iox, ingalipt, etc., the antimicrobial drug hexoral, the local antibiotic bioparox.
One more modern method effects on pathogenic bacteria are drugs that create additional immunity. Once on the mucous membrane, they begin to produce antibodies to the pathogens of the disease, these are ribomunil, staphylococcal bacteriophage, IRS-19.
There are different types of sore throats - they are all equally dangerous
THERE ARE several main types of sore throats, which are essentially to varying degrees the same process. Most mild form is catarrhal tonsillitis. It mainly affects the superficial area of the tonsils. Sore throat may not be accompanied high temperature, although you feel a general malaise - poor appetite, chills, headache, feeling of exhaustion.
Unlike her lacunar tonsillitis immediately begins with a rise in temperature to significant values: 39 and even 40°. The submandibular lymph nodes become enlarged, salivation appears, and when examined, the tonsils are not only reddened and enlarged, but also coated.
With follicular angina, the parenchyma of the tonsils is damaged; on the swollen tonsils, yellow formations the size of a pinhead, like a “starry sky,” are visible.
The throat, as we found out, is no different from other parts of the body, and in this sense, massage will also be useful for it. You can do this massage daily and especially before going out into the cold or after eating cold food. The main techniques are stroking and kneading.
1. Grab your neck with your entire palm, so that it is between the large and index fingers. Without changing the position of your hand, perform circular kneading movements with one hand, then with the other.
2. Using circular movements, knead with four fingers of each hand, moving from the earlobe down the anterolateral part of the neck to the chest.
3. Massage the posterolateral surface of the neck from the earlobe to the shoulder - right hand on the left, and with the left hand on the right.
Finally, you should try a remedy such as massage of reflexogenic zones on the palms and soles of the feet. On the right and left feet, the area responsible for the neck area is located the same - at the base of the main phalanx thumb. You need to massage it with circular movements of your thumb. In the palm, the area we need is located on the pad of the thumb of both hands. How to find the required point? One option is this: divide the upper phalanx of the thumb into three parts (you can draw it directly on the finger ballpoint pen). On the border of the first third there will be eyes and eyebrows of a conventional human face, and on the border of the second third there will be a mouth, this is the desired point responsible for normal work tonsils You can influence this point using any techniques. acupressure. One option is to stick a grain of buckwheat or black pepper to your finger with a band-aid and periodically press on this area with the pad of your index finger.
Needless to say, the effect on reflexogenic points should be quite long (5-10 minutes) and this should be done every day and preferably several times a day.
Power of nature
In addition to drug treatment You can use the advice of traditional medicine, which has many recipes to help cope with the symptoms of this disease.
So, you can prepare decoctions for gargling from the following herbs:
Siberian elderberry (pour 3-4 tablespoons of flowers with a glass of boiling water and simmer over low heat).
Blueberries (100 g of dried fruits, pour 0.5 liters of water, boil until half the water has evaporated).
Calendula (pour 1 tablespoon with a glass of boiling water, boil for 10 minutes).
Chamomile (same preparation method).
Gargle with infusions:
Garlic (100 g chopped cloves pour 100 ml warm water, leave for 4 hours).
Plantain (4 crushed dry or fresh leaves, pour a glass of boiling water, leave for half an hour).
You can take herbal infusions internally:
Common anise (pour a teaspoon of fruit with a glass of boiling water, leave for 20 minutes).
Salvia officinalis (brew 4 teaspoons of crushed leaves with 2 cups of boiling water, leave for 30 minutes).
Plant juice will also come in handy:
Onion - for oral administration (1 teaspoon 3-4 times a day).
Beetroot - for gargling.
Before use, decoctions and infusions must, of course, be strained. After gargling, inhaling the vapors of onion and garlic, it is better not to eat anything for an hour to allow the active substances to act on the mucous membrane. You need to be treated with traditional medicine regularly throughout the day, otherwise there will be no effect. For example, you need to gargle every 2-3 hours, inhale the vapors of crushed garlic or cut onion - 5-6 times a day. Chew lemon peels or pieces of propolis the same number of times (1 g per dose), after 3-4 hours, dissolve a teaspoon of honey in your mouth, etc. There is another time-tested remedy for sore throat - kombucha. You should drink a glass of it twice a day, starting from acute period, and then for 4-6 weeks as prophylaxis.
This is often underestimated simple thing, as the formation of heat in the neck area - for this purpose, you can wrap a regular woolen scarf around your throat. As home remedy You can use homemade warming compresses. The simplest is alcohol (using vodka or half-diluted alcohol), in addition, you can make a combined compress, for example, from 2 parts honey, 1 part aloe juice and 3 parts vodka. Suitable for compress and regular use vegetable oil(can be mixed with honey). The preparation technique is as follows: moisten or lubricate linen or cotton fabric with one of the indicated products and wrap it around the neck, capturing the area submandibular lymph nodes. Wrap the top with polyethylene, then with a layer of cotton wool or just a woolen scarf and secure firmly with a pin. Do not leave a compress, especially an alcohol compress, for more than an hour and a half. During the day, the procedure can be repeated again.
I don't want to get sick!
Even a single episode of sore throat can have serious negative impact on certain organs. What can we say about those cases when sore throats follow one after another - it happens that a person suffers from several sore throats over the course of a year. Even if this disease bothers you once a year, the question of its serious prevention arises.
On the ONE hand, protecting yourself from a sore throat is not so difficult - there is no need to organize competitions on the speed of absorption of ice cream, it is better to eat it a little melted. You should not drink, especially in hot weather, very chilled carbonated water, you should not sit directly under an air conditioner operating “in the cold”, and finally, after sweating, you should avoid drafts. Of course, it is worth taking care of the general strengthening of the body, which includes hardening (including local - throat), good nutrition, seasonal vitamin therapy, regular walks fresh air. But it happens that all these remedies are not enough - moreover, any attempt to harden the body leads to illness. In this case, we are talking about a noticeable decrease in immunity, which, at the first order of pathogenic bacteria, surrenders its boundaries.
In this situation, it is worthwhile to undertake decisive reorganization of the main “suppliers” of pathogenic flora. You need to visit the dentist and eliminate all areas of caries, other possible diseases oral cavity (gingivitis, periodontitis). Get serious about your tonsils in order to not only reduce the number pathogenic flora, but also, if possible, to regenerate the tissue of the tonsils and restore their normal functioning. To do this, you need, of course, to consult a doctor, an ENT specialist, who will tell you a program of action. He can take a swab from the larynx to find out whether the number of bacteria settling on your mucous membrane is higher than normal. If necessary, he will prescribe a course of antibiotics or phages that will deliver a targeted blow to those types of bacteria that, quite possibly, most often attack your body. Next, local exposure to the mucous membrane may be necessary using antibiotic rinses, alcohol solutions, iodine-containing drugs, biologically active substances. In some cases, a course of energy treatment using electrophoresis, UHF, microwave, laser therapy, etc. will be suitable. If necessary, it will be necessary to eliminate problems of the upper respiratory tract that can provoke the disease (adenoiditis, chronic rhinitis, sinusitis, deviated nasal septum). Helps some preventive treatment already mentioned immunomodulator drugs.
In addition to this treatment, whether you like it or not, you need to introduce hardening elements. Even if these are not icy douches, but just daily wiping of the torso or just the neck area with warm and then slightly cool water, over time you can add to this procedure dousing your feet with water of the same temperature.
If, in an effort to strengthen our arms, we perform exercises to develop upper limbs, then special exercises will also help in strengthening the throat. Firstly, any load on the neck muscles is good. There are observations that in people suffering from frequent tonsillitis, the mobility of the cranial-cervical joint is difficult. Exercise will not only improve blood circulation throughout the entire area of the larynx, but also restore mobility cervical spine. Secondly, we need “physical exercise” for the larynx, which would help the regeneration processes of the mucous membrane.
Here is an approximate set of exercises for this case
Circular movements of the head in one direction and the other.
Tilts the head from side to side.
Place your elbow on the table, clench your hand into a fist and rest your chin on it. Press your chin onto your fist while feeling the tension in the muscles of your larynx.
Exercises performed with the tongue
Keeping your mouth closed, press the entire surface of your tongue into the roof of your mouth - 1 movement per second. Do this for a minute. Rest and repeat the exercise if desired.
The mouth is closed, the tip of the tongue is on the alveoli of the upper palate (tubercles behind the teeth). Pull the root of your tongue towards the tonsils, feeling the touch on them. The pace is the same as in the previous exercise, or slightly lower.
The famous "lion pose" is an exercise borrowed from yoga. Sit on your heels, keeping your back straight. Place your palms on your knees, fingers together. Exhale through your nose, at the same time open your mouth as wide as possible, stick out your tongue and try to reach your chin with its tip. In this case, you need to lean forward a little and spread your fingers - like a lion with its claws out. Stay in this position as long as you can hold your breath, then return to the starting position and breathe calmly. In yoga, this exercise is done a huge number of repetitions, but for us to prevent throat diseases, 5-6 times in one go will be enough. However, during the day you will need to make several such visits - as they say, the more, the better.
Our expert - therapist Arina Polezhaeva.
When it hurts to swallow
A few decades ago, people mostly traveled in autumn, winter or early spring. Now doctors are increasingly calling it a summer illness.
Sore throat occurs due to the fact that staphylococci and streptococci begin to actively multiply on the tonsils. They can enter our bodies when we interact with sick people. This is what usually happens in winter. In summer, the onset of illness often follows a different scenario - our own microbes become more active.
Staphylococci and streptococci normally live on the skin and mucous membranes of every person. But while the immune system is strong, they do not manifest themselves in any way. But when the body’s defenses are weakened, microbes take over and begin to multiply rapidly.
Easier than winter. The main thing is not to exhaust the immune system and eliminate the main risk factors.
From hot to cold
Doctors mostly blame air conditioners for summer illnesses. A quarter of a century ago there were almost none of them in Russia, and people experienced some discomfort during the heat, but they caught colds less often. Nowadays, air conditioners are installed in any institution that cares more or less about its image, in cars. It's convenient, but, alas, you have to pay for such comfort. Sudden changes temperatures (more than 10 °C) cause so-called “heat stress”, which significantly weakens the immune system.
How to protect yourself? If you drive your own car, do not turn on the air conditioner at full power at once. In thirty-degree heat, you should first set it to a temperature of 24-26 ° C, and then gradually reduce it. For air-conditioned stores and other establishments, the easiest way to protect yourself is to carry a light, long-sleeved shirt. When entering a room, throw it on, this will slightly soften temperature changes.
Water, water...
One of the main causes of summer sore throat is abuse. A sharp cooling of the mucous membrane of the throat leads to a decrease in local protection, and harmful microbes have an excellent opportunity for rapid reproduction.
How to protect yourself? Try to avoid drinks with ice, especially carbonated ones - they further irritate the throat mucosa. It is best to quench your summer thirst with water at room temperature. If you want to drink something cold or eat ice cream, under no circumstances do it while running. Sit in the shade and let yourself cool down a bit, then eat or drink slowly, in small bites or sips.
Dangerous sun
In moderate doses, ultraviolet radiation has a beneficial effect on the body. But if you overuse sunbathing, this significantly weakens your immune system. This is partly the reason why colds are so often encountered by people who go on vacation to hot resorts.
How to protect yourself? Follow the basic rules for sun exposure. Ideally, you only need to tan for 10 minutes on the first day. Every day you can add 5-10 minutes to eventually increase your exposure to the sun to two hours. Of course, if your vacation is short, it is not easy to maintain such a regime - you want to enjoy the sun and sea as much as possible. In this case, try to at least spend the first days not in the sun, but on a shaded area of the beach. And, of course, do not go out to sunbathe from 12 to 16 o'clock in the afternoon.
Like the air... stale
Many city residents face in the summer not only a sore throat, but also pharyngitis - inflammation of the mucous membrane of the pharynx. In addition to hypothermia, dusty and polluted city air can trigger it. When inhaled, it irritates the mucous membrane, making it more vulnerable to the penetration of microbes.
How to protect yourself? It's easy to do this at home. It is enough to purchase an air purifier and, if possible, not open the windows (by the way, in the heat this will make staying in the apartment more comfortable). On the street it is much more difficult to protect yourself from dirty air. At least try to walk along large roads as little as possible. highways, especially during rush hours.
Summer time is considered a healthy period. You’re not supposed to get sick, and there’s no need to; it’s better to go to the sea than to spend time with a fever under the blanket and a cutting pain in your throat. Previously, traditional sore throats and colds were considered ailments of the cool season, but now, more and more often, experts say that sore throats have a summer tint. What is the reason for this and how can you avoid the disease?
Why does sore throat happen in summer?
Doctors believe that sore throat in the summer becomes a price to pay for innovations technical progress and comfort. Man is prone to excess. When the room is hot, we rush to turn on the air conditioner and set it to 19 degrees. If you want to cool down, you are ready to consume two or three packs of ice cream at once. When we are thirsty, we sip on an ice-cold drink. Because of such excess and irrepressibility, sore throat comes - acute tonsillitis, pharyngitis, laryngitis, acute respiratory viral infections, acute respiratory infections. These diseases can be transmitted by airborne droplets. So several people can get sick at once, and that’s a few steps away from a real epidemic.
Summer sore throat: prevention measures
In order not to overshadow your vacation with illness:
- Do not eat ice cream quickly; it is better to eat it slightly melted;
- Do not drink very chilled water in extreme heat;
- drink cold soda without a straw - thanks to this, the moisture will first warm up in your mouth and then get into your throat;
- don’t sit under the air conditioner, it’s like sitting by a window with a draft coming from it;
- Avoid drafts, especially if you are sweating.
Sore throat appears out of nowhere
In some cases, the cause of sore throat is associated with the characteristics of a person’s own flora - microflora on the mucous membrane of the respiratory tract - staphylococci and streptococci. In the event of unfavorable conditions for humans (overwork, stress, hypothermia), which is accompanied by a decrease in immunity, harmless microorganisms go on the attack. Based on this, we can conclude: try to take care of yourself, and whenever possible, strengthen your immune system. Eat well. Seasonal vitamin therapy is indicated. Take walks in the fresh air.
If you have to travel in a car, do not turn on the air conditioner at full power, make sure that the air vents are not directed towards your chest or in the face. It’s better - up, down or to the sides. When traveling to the sea, beware of throwing yourself into cool water after warming up in the sun.
