What can cause my throat to hurt

How to treat a sore throat yourself

To help soothe a sore throat and shorten how long it lasts, you can:

• gargle with warm, salty water (children should not try this)
• drink plenty of water
• eat cool or soft foods
• avoid smoking or smoky places
• suck ice cubes, ice lollies or hard sweets – but do not give young children anything small and hard to suck because of the risk of choking
• rest

If you have a high temperature or you do not feel well enough to do your normal activities, try to stay at home and avoid contact with other people until you feel better.

1. Dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water (warm water helps salt dissolve).
2. Gargle with the solution, then spit it out (do not swallow it).
3. Repeat as often as you like.

Video: how to treat a sore throat

This video shows you how to treat a sore throat.

Media last reviewed: 1 June 2020
Media review due: 1 June 2023

A pharmacist can help with sore throats

You can ask a pharmacist about ways of relieving the pain and discomfort of a sore throat, such as:

• paracetamol or ibuprofen
• medicated lozenges containing a local anaesthetic, antiseptic, or anti-inflammatory medicine
• anaesthetic spray (although there's little proof they help)

You can buy these treatments from a supermarket or from a pharmacist without a prescription.

Information:

Call your pharmacy or contact them online before going in person. You can get medicines delivered or ask someone to collect them.

Find a pharmacy

Antibiotics

You do not normally need antibiotics for a sore throat because they will not usually relieve your symptoms or speed up your recovery.

They'll only be prescribed if a GP thinks you could have a bacterial infection.

Non-urgent advice: See a GP if:

• your sore throat does not improve after a week
• you often get sore throats
• you're worried about your sore throat
• you have a sore throat and a very high temperature, or you feel hot and shivery
• you have a weakened immune system – for example, because of diabetes or chemotherapy

A severe or long-lasting sore throat could be something like strep throat (a bacterial throat infection).

Immediate action required: Call 999 if:

You or your child:

• have difficulty swallowing or breathing
• are drooling – this can be a sign of not being able to swallow
• are making a high-pitched sound as you breathe (called stridor)
• have severe symptoms and are getting worse quickly

Sore throat symptoms

If you have a sore throat you might have:

• a painful throat, especially when swallowing
• a dry, scratchy throat
• redness in the back of your mouth
• bad breath
• a mild cough
• swollen neck glands

The symptoms are similar for children, but children can also get a temperature and appear less active.

Causes of sore throats

Sore throats are usually caused by viruses (like cold or flu) or from smoking. Very occasionally they can be caused by bacteria.

Everyone knows what a sore throat feels like. It’s one of the most common health complaints, particularly during the colder months of the year, when respiratory diseases are at their peak.

The raw, scratchy, burning feeling at the back of your throat is often the first warning sign that you have a cold, or that the flu is on the way. But it can also be the first symptom of more serious conditions, so you should watch how it develops.

Flores AR, Caserta MT. Pharyngitis. In: Bennett JE, Dolin R, Blaser MJ, eds. Mandell, Douglas, and Bennett's Principles and Practice of Infectious Diseases. 9th ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 59.

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Shulman ST, Bisno AL, Clegg HW, et al. Clinical practice guideline for the diagnosis and management of group A streptococcal pharyngitis: 2012 update by the Infectious Diseases Society of America. Clin Infect Dis. 2012;55(10):e86-e102. PMID: 22965026www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22965026/.

Tanz RR. Acute pharyngitis. In: Kliegman RM, St. Geme JW, Blum NJ, Shah SS, Tasker RC, Wilson KM, eds. Nelson Textbook of Pediatrics. 21st ed. Philadelphia, PA: Elsevier; 2020:chap 409.

van Driel ML, De Sutter AI, Habraken H, Thorning S, Christiaens T. Different antibiotic treatments for group A streptococcal pharyngitis. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2016;9:CD004406. PMID: 27614728www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27614728/.

Last reviewed on: 7/19/2021

Reviewed by: Linda J. Vorvick, MD, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Family Medicine, UW Medicine, School of Medicine, University of Washington, Seattle, WA. Also reviewed by David Zieve, MD, MHA, Medical Director, Brenda Conaway, Editorial Director, and the A.D.A.M. Editorial team.

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