Sore throat...

[carreauchompeur]

Folks,

I've had a sore throat for nearly a fortnight now. Seems to have been initially a bug going round at work.

I went to the docs earlier in the week and they declared no signs of bacterial infection, throat swab says 'normal'.

It's getting a bit annoying now though, I'm using paracetamol which works for a short while however at times I feel like I'm swallowing glass and I'm also not sleeping very well. Apart from the throat though, I'm fine.

Any ideas

A. What this is
B. how I might treat it.

I fully expect some cries of MTFU however I do think a fortnights a bit excessive to have a sore throat and it seems to be getting worse if anything.

[TROOPER88]

Hi
You are correct in thinking that it is a bug.
It does linger for in some cases a few weeks.

Try TCP etc but I had exactly the same until recently and what made the difference was in fact turning the heating off at night a lot earlier.

We had been leaving the heating on until circa 10pm and then going to bed. This is not ideal. Switch the heating off at something like 7pm and see what happens. It gives the body a few hours to cool down naturally before going to sleep which I am led to believe is healthier.

Report back once you have tried.

[drivin_me_nuts]

If you still have a sore throat in a few weeks, go back to your GP.

[Zad]

Try gargling a couple of times a day with a warm salty water solution. Its no high tech antibiotic, but it can help to reduce the amount of bacteria around in your throat slightly, giving your body's defences a better shot at getting rid of it.

One of the (NHS) sites I saw, mentioned dissolving half an aspirin into the salty water, to help reduce any inflammation and so on.

[carreauchompeur]

Thanks very much guys. I'll start some of the more proactive measures tomorrow. In slightly concerned that its a return of glandular fever but I don't seem to have the other symptoms/tiredness...

If its still like this Weds I'll go back to the docs, it's really nasty at times... :-(