The top back of my throat hurts when i swallow

How Can I Tell If a Sore Throat Is Strep Throat?

Feb 18, 2018 Cedars-Sinai Staff

Strep throat can be an especially common illness in school-aged children and teenagers.

You start feeling pain or tingling in your throat, and it hurts to swallow. Is it just a sore throat or is it strep throat? Do you just need to rest or do you need to see your doctor?

A sore throat can have a variety of causes—including viral infections (like a cold), pollution, allergies, and heartburn. Strep throat, however, is a severe kind of sore throat caused by bacteria called group A Streptococcus or group A strep.

Symptoms of strep throat include:

• A fever of 101 degrees or more that lasts more than 2 days
• Swollen tonsils with red or white patches
• Rash
• Swollen lymph nodes

If you're experiencing these symptoms in addition to a sore throat, your doctor will need to do a rapid strep test or a throat culture to determine if group A strep is present.

"While antibiotics are very effective at treating strep throat, they do not help sore throats due to other causes."

"You should call your doctor if you develop a sore throat with a fever higher than 101 or a rash without other cold symptoms, such as runny nose and cough," says Cedars-Sinai primary care physician Dr. Colleen Ryan.

Strep throat usually lasts only 3-5 days, but antibiotics are important to prevent complications like scarlet fever and rheumatic fever. Most people feel better 1-2 days after starting antibiotics.

"While antibiotics are very effective at treating strep throat, they do not help sore throats due to other causes," says Dr. Ryan. "The majority of sore throats are due to viral infections and will not be helped by antibiotics."

Looking for ways to soothe your sore throat? Dr. Ryan recommends the following for treating the symptoms, whether caused by strep throat or not:

• Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of fluids to keep the throat moist.
• Use a humidifier.
• Gargle with saltwater to help clear post-nasal drip, which can irritate the throat.
• Use throat lozenges and warm liquids such as tea with honey to soothe your throat.
• Use acetaminophen or ibuprofen to treat pain or very high fevers. Check with your doctor or pharmacist to make sure these over-the-counter pain medications are safe for you.

Strep throat is highly contagious and can be spread through airborne droplets. Other causes of sore throat can also be contagious, so with any sore throat, you should take care to protect those around you.

"You should wash your hands frequently when you have a sore throat and avoid touching your mouth," says Dr. Ryan. "If you have a cough, wear a mask or cough into your elbow crease to avoid spreading germs. Do not share food, drinks, and utensils. Also, avoid sharing towels and bed linens. Wash everything in hot, soapy water."

Wondering how long you should you stay home from work or keep the kids home from school? With strep throat, you are no longer contagious once you have been on antibiotics for 24 hours. With viral infections like colds, you are contagious as long as the symptoms last.

What To Do When Your Throat Hurts

We’ve all had sore throats around this time of year. Your throat feels scratchy and may hurt when you swallow. What can you do to soothe a sore throat? And when is it a sign of a more serious infection?

Most sore throats are caused by viral infections such as the common cold or the flu. These throat problems are generally minor and go away on their own.

To soothe your irritated throat, keep it moist. “Ever notice that a sore throat seems worse in the morning? It’s because your throat gets so dry overnight,” says Dr. Valerie Riddle, an infectious disease expert at NIH. “Having lozenges or hard candies—or anything that stimulates saliva production—will keep your throat moist. It’s also important to drink plenty of fluids.”

For young children who might choke on hard candies or lozenges, try cold liquids and popsicles. Throat pain might also be soothed by throat sprays and over-the-counter pain relievers such as acetaminophen, ibuprofen or aspirin, but don’t give aspirin to young children.

Contact a doctor if your sore throat is severe, doesn’t feel better after a few days, or is accompanied by a high fever or swollen glands. These symptoms could be signs of a bacterial infection, such as strep throat. Taking antibioticsPrescription medications used to treat bacterial infections such as strep throat. won’t help at all if your sore throat is caused by viruses, but they’re essential for fighting bacterial infections like strep.

Strep is the most common bacterial throat infection. Although it can occur in adults, strep throat is more common in children between ages 5 and 15. Riddle says strep can be harder to detect in younger children, because it can cause a runny nose and other symptoms that make it seem like a cold. “If your child has severe throat pain, a fever above 100.4 degrees, or swollen glands, you should get medical attention right away,” advises Riddle. Children with strep also may experience nausea, vomiting and stomach pain.

To see whether you have strep throat, the doctor will take a throat swab. If test results confirm strep, your doctor will prescribe antibiotics. After 24 hours of taking them, you should no longer be contagious. You’ll likely begin feeling better within a couple of days, but to fully recover it’s important to finish all of the medicine.

Strep is highly contagious. Treat it quickly to prevent it from spreading to others. Riddle says, “Not only can the infection be transmitted, but there are potential complications from untreated strep throat.” These include ear infections, rheumatic fever and kidney problems.

Another fairly common throat infection is tonsillitis, which occurs when you have sore, swollen tonsilsStructures in the back of your throat that help prevent infection by trapping germs that come in through your nose and mouth.. It’s caused by many of the same viruses and bacteria that cause sore throats. If you have frequent bouts of tonsillitis or strep throat, you may need surgery (called a tonsillectomy) to have your tonsils removed. 

The best way to protect yourself from the germs that cause these infections is to wash your hands often. Try to steer clear of people who have colds or other contagious infections. And avoid smoking and inhaling second-hand smoke, which can irritate your throat.

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