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Basics

• Summary
• Start Here
• Symptoms
• Diagnosis and Tests
• Treatments and Therapies

Learn More

• Related Issues
• Specifics

See, Play and Learn

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Research

• Clinical Trials
• Journal Articles

Resources

• Find an Expert

For You

• Children
• Teenagers
• Patient Handouts

Summary

Your throat is a tube that carries food to your esophagus and air to your windpipe and larynx. The technical name for your throat is the pharynx.

Throat problems are common. You've probably had a sore throat. The cause is usually a viral infection, but other causes include allergies, infection with strep bacteria or the leaking of stomach acids back up into the esophagus, called GERD.

Other problems that affect the throat include

• Tonsillitis - inflammation of the tonsils
• Cancer
• Croup - inflammation, usually in small children, which causes a barking cough
• Laryngitis - swelling of the voice box, which can cause a hoarse voice or loss of voice

Most throat problems are minor and go away on their own. Treatments, when needed, depend on the problem.

Start Here

• Throat Problems (Symptom Checker) (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish

Symptoms

• Neck Swelling (Symptom Checker) (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish
• Throat Problems (Symptom Checker) (American Academy of Family Physicians) Also in Spanish

Diagnosis and Tests

• Barium Swallow (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Strep A Test (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Strep Test: Throat Culture (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• X-Ray Exam: Neck (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish

Treatments and Therapies

• Mouth Dryness or Thick Saliva (American Cancer Society) Also in Spanish

Related Issues

• Candidiasis (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention)
• Glossopharyngeal Neuralgia (National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke)
• Post-Nasal Drip (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis or Laryngeal Papillomatosis (National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders) Also in Spanish

Specifics

• Croup: MedlinePlus Health Topic (National Library of Medicine) Also in Spanish
• Epiglottitis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Hoarseness (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• Laryngitis (Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and Research)
• Laryngoceles (Merck & Co., Inc.) Also in Spanish
• Worried Your Sore Throat May Be Strep? (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) Also in Spanish

Clinical Trials

• ClinicalTrials.gov: Laryngeal Diseases (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Laryngitis (National Institutes of Health)
• ClinicalTrials.gov: Pharyngeal Diseases (National Institutes of Health)

Journal Articles References and abstracts from MEDLINE/PubMed (National Library of Medicine)

• Article: Changes in tonsillolith characteristics detected in a follow-up CT study.
• Article: Personal protective equipment for ENT activity during COVID-19 pandemic.
• Article: Changing from Clinician-Collected to Self-Collected Throat Swabs for Oropharyngeal Gonorrhea and...
• Throat Disorders -- see more articles

Find an Expert

• American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery
• Find an ENT (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders

Children

• GERD and LPR (American Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery)
• Scarlet Fever (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Scoop on Strep Throat (For Kids) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• Strep Throat (For Parents) (Nemours Foundation) Also in Spanish
• When a Sore Throat Is a More Serious Infection (American Academy of Pediatrics) Also in Spanish

Teenagers

• Strep Throat (For Teens) (Nemours Foundation)

Patient Handouts

• Blockage of upper airway (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Epiglottitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Glossopharyngeal neuralgia (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Herpangina (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Laryngitis (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Laryngoscopy (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Retropharyngeal abscess (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Strep throat (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish
• Throat swab culture (Medical Encyclopedia) Also in Spanish