Persistent Sore Throat: How To Feel Better

Do you have a recurrent sore throat or a persistent itchy throat in Singapore? Itchy sore throat symptoms can really affect your quality of life, making it difficult to sleep at night or concentrate on your work in the daytime. In fact, it is a downright irritating problem for many people! They don’t realise that actually, itchy throat and sore throats can be treated quite successfully!

As top ENT specialists in Singapore, we see many ENT patients with sore itchy throats. We will always try to isolate the cause of the sore itchy throat first. Making the right diagnosis is the key to starting the right treatment for your itchy throat. Itchy and sore throats in Singapore may be caused by a postnasal drip of mucus from the back of your nose, acid reflux and tonsil infections. If you notice white spots on your tonsils which keep recurring, then these may be tonsil stones. Tonsil stones are often a sign of underlying recurrent throat infections or chronic tonsil inflammation.

Some patients with sore throats or throat discomfort may also notice bad breath (halitosis). They keep getting this constant urge to keep clearing their throats, making recurrent throat noises frequently. Sometimes, after a bout of the flu or common cold, backdrip of watery mucus flowing from the back of your nose may persist for a few days to a few weeks, irritating your throat.

If the postnasal drip is yellow or purulent, then it might be caused by an infection of your sinuses. Sinusitis may result from a complication of the flu in some patients. If you notice a yellow postnasal drip, suffer from headaches or fever, or throat pain, then you may need to see your ENT specialist in Singapore for a course of antibiotics.

What can you do about your sore itchy throat, before you decide to see an ENT specialist in Singapore?

Here are Dr Annabelle’s 5 Helpful Tips for Itchy Sore Throat Relief:

1. Make sure you drink 6 glasses of warm water daily to keep your throat from feeling too dry.
2. Soothe your irritated itchy sore throat with regular Difflam anti-inflammatory gargles.
3. Starting a saline Sinus Rinse to keep your nasal passages clear of mucus helps to reduce any postnasal drip flowing down into your throat.
4. Trying a course of antihistamine medications such as Telfast, Clarityn or Zyrtec, can help to clear nasal congestion. This can alleviate the persistent backdrip of mucus from causing the itchy throat.
5. A trial of anti-acid reflux medications may be necessary to treat any underlying acid irritation coming up from your stomach. Gastro-oesophageal Reflux Disease (GERD) can affect your throat to cause persistent throat itching and discomfort. Bloating and burping may also be troublesome symptoms. Helicobacter Pylori is a bacteria that can live in your stomach to cause persistent GERD symptoms. This carries an increased risk of going on to develop stomach cancer if not eradicated with proper medication. Simple off-the-counter medications such as Gaviscon may help to relieve GERD symptoms first until you find the time to see an ENT doctor in Singapore for investigation and stronger treatment of your persistent sore throat.

I hope your throat feels better soon with these simple tips, my friends!

Share this blog via: