Where do I go: family doctor or ENT? | When should I go to the doctor with a sore throat?

Where do I go: family doctor or ENT?

If you have a sore throat, you can first consult your family doctor. A specialist on the other hand is the ear, nose and throat doctor. An ear, nose and throat specialist has other ways to examine you and is more specialized in diseases that cause sore throats.

It is not always equally easy to get a short-term appointment with an ENT specialist. If you cannot get a short-term appointment with an ENT specialist, you should see your family doctor and describe your symptoms. Sore throat can be caused by a harmless cold or more serious childhood illnesses such as scarlet fever or mumps.

There are symptoms where you should definitely go to the pediatrician with your sick child. These include fever, a dull voice, headache, aching limbs, earache, tiredness, nausea and vomiting. If there are white spots on the tonsils, tonsillitis is suspected. Swollen lymph nodes in the neck, skin rashes and the typical red raspberry tongue are characteristic symptoms of serious childhood diseases.

Duration of sick leave

The duration of the sick leave for sore throats depends on the accompanying symptoms and the underlying diseases. For example, if you are suffering from flu, sick leave usually lasts one to two weeks. The duration of the illness is very variable for the various diseases that cause sore throats. A doctor often takes a few days off sick and extends the sick leave at a new doctor’s appointment if the symptoms do not improve. Our next article will inform you more about this topic: Sick leave for a cold