First, pharyngitis: it is an inflammation that occurs in the mucous membrane and submucosa of the pharynx, and mostly involves the lymphatic tissue of the pharynx. Patients may have sore throat, dry throat, burning sensation in throat and foreign body sensation. Clinically, it can be divided into acute pharyngitis and chronic pharyngitis according to the different course of disease. Acute pharyngitis can occur alone, often secondary to acute rhinitis or acute tonsillitis; Chronic pharyngitis is often a part of chronic inflammation of the upper respiratory tract, which is more common in adults.
Second, the typical symptoms
1. Acute pharyngitis: generally, the onset is acute, characterized by dry, burning and rough throat, and then obvious sore throat can appear, especially when swallowing, and sometimes the pain can radiate to the ear. Generally, the symptoms are mild, but the degree varies with age, immunity and virulence of viruses and bacteria, including fever, headache, loss of appetite and soreness of limbs. If there are no complications, the general course of treatment is about 1 week.
2. Chronic pharyngitis: generally no obvious systemic symptoms. Mainly manifested as foreign body sensation, itchy throat, burning, dryness or slight pain. Thick secretions are often attached to the posterior pharyngeal wall, which can cause patients to have irritating cough with nausea when they get up in the morning. Generally, there is no sputum or only granular lotus root amyloid secretion, and patients with atrophic pharyngitis sometimes cough up smelly scabs.
Third, complications.
1. Acute otitis media: Acute pharyngitis can cause acute otitis media, which is common in children. Patients may have severe earache, hearing loss, tinnitus, pus in the ear and other symptoms, and may be accompanied by chills, fever, vomiting and diarrhea.
2. Acute sinusitis: It is also one of the main complications of acute pharyngitis. Patients often have local symptoms such as nasal congestion, purulent runny nose, nasal pain and decreased sense of smell, and may also have systemic symptoms such as chills, fever, headache, loss of appetite and constipation.
3. Others: Sometimes acute respiratory inflammation such as tracheobronchitis and pneumonia may occur. Acute septic pharyngitis can be complicated with acute nephritis, rheumatic fever and septicemia.
Fourth, the principle of treatment: for patients with no systemic symptoms or mild symptoms, local treatment is generally used, such as mouthwash, various buccal tablets or Chinese patent medicines. For patients with systemic infection, antibiotics are often needed for anti-infection treatment. In addition, patients with primary disease should actively treat the primary disease according to the cause.