Sore throat with allergy
An allergy or allergic reaction is an overreaction of the body’s immune system to otherwise harmless substances such as house dust or pollen. Most allergies manifest themselves by reddening of the eyes, sneezing, and sniffing. Some patients, however, develop such a strong reaction to certain substances that it can lead to real allergic shock reactions.
This complication, known as anaphylactic shock, is potentially life-threatening and is treated by the emergency physician with an intravenous administration of adrenaline or glucocorticoids. This causes throat and respiratory tract swelling, circulatory failure, and loss of blood supply to the cells. If the allergic reaction is less severe, a furry feeling in the throat, a burning sensation, swelling of the lips, throat, and palate, and severe itching may occur.
These symptoms also make it possible to distinguish the allergy from a common cold. If the reactions occur after the consumption of certain foods, or when staying “in the country”, the suspicion of an allergy is already very obvious. Due to the constant coughing and mucus in the respiratory tract, as well as in the throat area, sore throats can also occur in the long run.
Whether it is really an allergy can be determined by means of the so-called prick test: For this purpose, small incisions are made in the skin on the forearm and the allergen is applied to these incisions. On the basis the swellings, and the strength of the swellings can be determined, against which allergen the patient is how strongly allergic. Antihistamines can be taken for treatment.
These are tablets that dampen the overreaction of the body, but as a side effect they also make the patient relatively tired – so they are not an optimal solution. Therefore it is most important to avoid the triggering allergen. Both external and internal cooling help against sore throats.
In addition simply a cool pack can be wrapped in a kitchen towel and placed on the neck. The application should not be uncomfortable, and should not take place for more than 10 minutes at a time.Ice cream cools the throat and pharynx from the inside, and fights swelling. In addition, the muscles contract, which also has a space-opening effect. Before, however, a cold should be excluded, as ice cream would be counterproductive in this case. Self-tests for differentiation are quickly done and even available on the Internet.
