Therapy

First and foremost, the sick should take in a lot of liquid, as this can dilute the secretion. It is also important to moisten the air in the room to relieve the mucous membranes a little and to prevent them from drying out completely. Essential oils, which are brought close to the nose, can also help to clear the airways and make it easier to breathe through the nose and fall asleep.

A steam bath with chamomile, mineral salts or essential oils can also help very well against rhinitis, as the mucous membranes are moistened. However, it is important to wear an inhalation mask to protect the eyes or to be very careful not to irritate them. Usually the outer nose area becomes inflamed when the mucous membrane dries out and the skin is irritated by the encrustation of the secretion or by blowing.

In case of allergic rhinitis, nose drops with cromoglicic acid should be taken as a preventive measure. The doctor can easily determine the cause of the treatment, especially if it is a nasal polyp or a nasal septum curvature. Antibiotics are only administered if it is a bacterial disease.

Prophylaxis

You can prevent a cold or a common cold very well by strengthening your immune system (your defenses). This is especially important in autumn, before the cold days and the dry heating air start to affect our mucous membranes again.It is also important to keep sufficient distance to sick people to protect yourself from infection. In winter, you should always provide sufficient ventilation in heated rooms so that the humidity does not become too low. Rhinitis can also be prevented by dressing according to the weather. This means that the clothing should be neither too light nor too warm.

Sore throat

Sore throat is acute, recurrent (recurrent) and chronic. One or both sides of the neck can be affected. Depending on the findings, doctors differentiate between certain subgroups, for example inflammation with ulcers.

If you have been suffering from sore throat for at most two weeks, these are called acute. In most cases, however, they disappear by themselves after about three days. The most common cause of sore throats is respiratory diseases.

In children, one has to reckon with rhinitis and sore throat, as well as coughing, about eight to ten times a year. As with colds, it is viruses that cause sore throats in most cases, and this usually occurs in late autumn or winter. Very rarely, however, there are other viruses that cause cold-like symptoms, flu, tonsillitis and sometimes so-called childhood diseases.

If the mucous membranes are damaged, bacteria often migrate and cause pharyngitis, tonsillitis and also scarlet fever. Most sore throats are originally caused by colds and are often closely related to a cold. Often viruses and bacteria (in most cases streptococci) spread through the already severely affected nasal mucosa into the mouth and throat area and attack the tonsils, larynx, in severe cases the laryngeal cover and many other areas there.

In some cases, sore throats are also the harbingers of far more serious diseases such as scarlet fever or diphtheria. If the sore throat is accompanied by hoarseness, it must be assumed that the vocal chords have also been affected. As further causes for an illness at throat pain, one can call also among other things the irritation by environmental materials.

Here it is above all tobacco smoke, which leads to the irritation. But also solvents and dust cause sore throats. Furthermore, allergies, chemotherapy, treatment with cortisone, inadequate oral hygiene and poorly fitting prostheses, immune deficiency, chronic sinusitis (chronic sinusitis) and radiation therapy can also be named as potential causes of sore throats.

Depending on the nature of the disease or the type of cause, the symptoms may vary somewhat. In principle, however, the following complaints can be associated with sore throat: Sore throat, burning in the nose, sniffles, sneezing, headache, fever and cough. However, the disease can spread even further and so it can lead to coatings on the tonsils, difficulty swallowing, bad breath, earache, dull speech, swollen lymph nodes, hoarseness, tiredness, in children abdominal pain and vomiting and itching in the throat in case of allergies.

The doctor, in most cases it is the family doctor, always takes an extensive medical history at the beginning. He questions the patient in detail and then examines him thoroughly. It is particularly important to rule out an inflammation of the epiglottis, as this can be very dangerous.

This can lead to a complete blockage of the airways and to a reflex-like cardiac and circulatory arrest. This is an emergency and must be treated directly in hospital. In some cases a blood test is also important, for example to rule out glandular fever.

With this disease, for example, the liver values would be greatly increased. Furthermore, examinations by an ENT physician may be necessary and/or imaging procedures such as computer tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) or ultrasound (sonography) may be performed. Usually, patients who suffer from sore throats manage to get rid of them with simple home remedies, such as gargling with salt water, sucking ice cubes and neck wraps, as well as various teas, for which one can buy the herbs or ready-made tea blends in health food stores or pharmacies.

Antibiotics may only be prescribed if the infection is due to a bacterial cause. One should avoid irritants such as cigarette smoke as much as possible. All more specific and more serious diseases are specially treated according to the diagnosis.

The respective physician selects the right treatment method.Normally, untreated sore throats subside by themselves after a few days. In some cases, however, a visit to the doctor is unavoidable. If the feeling of weakness and sickness is very strong, if the fever is 39 degrees or even higher over a longer period of time, if the voice fails and you feel a lump in your throat, if you cough heavily and suffer from chills, you should see your family doctor as soon as possible.

Just as important, or almost even more important, is this in case of chest pain and feelings of tightness in the chest area, as well as shortness of breath. Sometimes there is also vomiting or a lockjaw, sometimes ulcers in the mouth and bad breath. These are also symptoms that make a visit to the doctor urgently necessary.

If you have a sore throat, you should not take part in sports. A sore throat indicates a weakened immune system and is often accompanied by a cold or a cold. Sport would only put unnecessary strain on the body. Myocarditis in particular is a dreaded complication of a delayed cold. Those who do not want to completely do without fresh air and some exercise can go for a walk.