I seem inordinately predisposed to getting a sore throat. (I also have a propensity for swollen nodes in the throat, which may or may not be related.) I’ve been making some headway in my ongoing battle, but I’ve yet to reach my goal of a year-round healthy throat.
My family doctor prescribed fluticasone propionate nasal spray last year, shortly after the great Good Friday healthcare debacle. (Yes, he started taking my insurance again.) This seems to have stopped allergy-engendered post-nasal drip from infecting my pharynx. So far so good, though I’ve yet to investigate the potential side effects of snorting a steroid on a daily basis.
Nevertheless, last month I got a sore throat of a different kind, lower in my throat than the pharyngeal zone. I went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist and he told me my tonsils were inflamed. He recommended gargling with a half-and-half mixture of hydrogen peroxide and mouthwash, twice a day. Sure enough, 36 hours later my throat felt fine.
This is on my mind right now because I came down with a little pharyngitis over the weekend. I hadn’t been using my nasal spray quite as religiously of late, as it’s not the season for my allergies, but I’m not sure that would have made any difference. I’m pretty sure Xy and I both a caught a virus from Persephone, something akin to the common cold, but not quite as severe. Nevertheless my pharynx was sore as hell yesterday.
I took P to the doctor this morning, and they had her inhale some albuterol for a while to combat the congestion in her lungs. But neither Xy nor P seem to have the sore throat I have. That’s a special bonus just for me.
And there’s something about having a sore throat that really gets me down. I guess feeling pain every time I swallow or breathe keeps me focused on the fact that I’m not well. I’m well-versed in a regimen of palliatives such as gargling with salt water, slippery elm bark tea and herbal lozenges. But prevention is what I’m aiming for.
So, the quest for the ultimate sore throat prevention technique continues.
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Talk about a disappointing google search! I enter “throat challenge” and all I get are your inane ramblings?! Christ!
Now THAT is funny.
Do you have your tonsils?
Last month I got a sore throat of a different kind, lower in my throat than the pharyngeal zone. I went to see an ear, nose and throat specialist and he told me my tonsils were inflamed. He recommended gargling with a half-and-half mixture of hydrogen peroxide and mouthwash, twice a day. Sure enough, 36 hours later my throat felt fine.
[…] never completely recovered from the cold I caught in late January. I only missed one day of work, and I felt well enough that my general routine was not disrupted, […]