What Causes Sore Throat, Nasal Burning Sensation And Breathing Difficulty After Spraying Paint?

Posted on Thu, 24 Dec 2015

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

Thu, 24 Dec 2015 Answered on

Wed, 13 Jan 2016 Last reviewed on

Question : I was spraying paint with an inadequate mask four days ago for about a 20 minute period. I experienced no difficulties until the third day following the spraying. Now, I have common cold symptoms - sore throat, burning nose, etc. However, I am not experiencing any difficulty breathing - no wheezing or coughing. I was also recently exposed to someone with a cold. Am I just fighting a cold, or should I be concerned about the exposure to spray paint?

Answered by Dr. Dr. Michelle Gibson (26 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
if no fatigue, weakness, fever, aches or pains, cold less likely

Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic

Exposure to chemicals can affect different body systems including the respiratory tract or GI tract .
This means that it can cause the symptoms that you are experiencing.

It would be difficult to distinguish from the cold but if you do not have fever, feel fatigued or lethargic with no other aches or pain, then cold is less likely.
In most cases of the cold,a person tends to feel a bit run down and fatigued.

You can consider using paracetamol , advil or aleve to help with the sore throat, burning pain in the nose, if you have no history of allergic reaction to any of these.

You can monitor to see if other cold symptoms develop.

If related to the spraying only, the symptoms should be slowly decreasing whereas if it is a cold, additional symptoms may be added and the cold would last 1 to 2 weeks.

I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions

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