What causes your throat to hurt on one side?

Ah, the sweet sensation of a sore throat. It’s like someone reaching down your neck and tickling your vocal cords with sandpaper. But what causes this oh-so-delightful experience to happen only on one side? Let’s dive in, shall we?

Anatomy 101

Before we get too deep into the potential causes, let’s do a quick review of our friend anatomy. The throat is made up of three main parts: the pharynx, larynx, and trachea. The pharynx is divided into three sections: nasopharynx (located behind the nose), oropharynx (located behind the mouth), and hypopharynx (located below the oropharynx). Okay, now that we’re all experts in throat architecture (totally kidding), let’s move on.

Potential Culprits

Here are some likely suspects as to why you might be experiencing unilateral (fancy word for ‘one-sided’) soreness:

Tonsillitis

Your tonsils are two small glands located at the back of your throat. They help protect against infections but sometimes can become infected themselves – leading to tonsillitis! Symptoms include painful swallowing and swollen lymph nodes in your neck.

Peritonsillar Abscess

When an infection around a tonsil spreads across several tissue planes underneath it becomes firm abscess filled with pus next/adjacent to one of he/she/they tonsils called peritonsilar abscess.

Strep Throat

Streptococcus A bacteria cause strep throat; symptoms  include fever above 101°F , tacky exudate overlying mucus membrane lesion and although very rare postural vomiting syndrome also known as PVS disease.

Mono

Mayo Clinic explains Mono being Virus that causes swollen glands, sore throat and high fever may be the reason of at least a single sided painful sore throat.

TMJ Disorder

The improper alignment of YOUR⭐️star attraction mandible puts pressure on nearby nerves resulting in pain that’s similar to throat pain.

GERD

Gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) is when stomach acid flows back into your esophagus leading to various symptoms including but not limited to heartburn, hiccups and one-sided ear or nose issues!

Time to Visit Doctor?

If you have been experiencing ONE-SIDED painful swallowing or any other associated symptom for more than a week it might be considered wise visiting the doctor before these simple causes convert into deadly diseases.

Treatments

Now let’s talk about what can be done if one does get diagnosed with aforementioned conditions:

Tonsillitis: Antibiotics are typically prescribed.

Strep Throat: Two antibiotics i.e penicillin & amoxicillin are considered common treatments; pink pill starter packs for kids included hopefully something cool like watermelon flavour tablets! 😊

Mono: There isn’t medicine specific designed previously directly labled as ‘mono’, therefore proper medication targeting underling symptoms will generally help such as Tylenol (for fever/headache relief )     and over-the-counter medications which include ibuprofen that ease swelling.

TMJ Disorder: Your General Physician may refer you to Dentist who specializes in treating Temporomandibular Joint Disorders after physical examination only unless its some rare disorder needing surgery intervention.

Peritonsillar Abscess: In moderate cases less than 2cm incision while larger ones require drainage through needle puncture procedures performed using local anesthesia.

GERD: Reducing spicy foods intake including chocolate along exercising habits plus avoiding alcohol at night helps managing getting passage clear.

Final Thoughts

So there you have it, folks! A quick rundown of potential reasons your throat might be hurting on one side. Remember, although most of the time a sore throat is just that – sore – If something feels abnormal please do visit doctor’s office; who else will enjoy hearing out all these wild theories swirling around..? Only them!!! 😉

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