What Causes Pain While Swallowing?

Posted on Wed, 8 Apr 2015

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Wed, 8 Apr 2015 Answered on

Wed, 29 Apr 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : My throat hurts when I swallow, like strep throat but I do not have a fever. However, I do have allergy issues but this is painful. Any ideas what it could be or what to do to help it?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Rovena (2 hours later)

Brief Answer:
detailed below.

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

Welcome to Healthcare Magic.

Allergies can cause a sore throat due to the presence of secretions that irritate the throat.
A sore throat due to a bacterial infection is more likely to cause severe symptoms like throat pain ,fever, swollen lymph nodes ,the throat can look inflamed,red or with white spots on it.

If the symptoms are moderate ,you have watery eye,runny nose ,the need to clear your throat it most likely to be due to allergy.In this case the symptoms tend to last more.

I would suggest to do frequent gargle with salt ,warm water.Do it several times a day.
Drink plenty of water anf take Ibuprofen for the pain.
If the symptoms doesn't seem to improve you may need to take an otc nasal decongestant to decrease the inflammation in nose.This will decrease the secretions in nose and improve the irritation in throat caused from from the post nasal drip.
If you start to have fever or see the presence of white spots on throat ,you need to consult your physician for proper evaluation and treatment.

Hope it helps.
Let me know if you need further help.

Kind regards,
Dr.Rovena Murati

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar