Most often, the palatine tonsils are affected, although pathological changes can also be noted in the area of other lymphoid formations of the pharyngeal lymphatic ring - the lingual, pharyngeal tonsil.
Tonsillitis requires mandatory and timely treatment - otherwise, the patient is at risk of serious complications.
How to help the patient and how to treat angina correctly?
Principles of therapy
What is angina and how is it treated? Angina, or tonsillitis, is understood as an infectious and inflammatory process in the tonsils - more often it begins if the body is weakened, and the fight against infection is difficult. To treat angina quickly and effectively, you need to pay attention to all clinical signs, individual characteristics of the body. There is no universal drug or way to eliminate sore throat with angina.
The symptoms of tonsillitis in adults are sufficient justification for starting therapy. Moreover, it is impossible to delay the treatment, since there is no reason to hope for a quick result when using only local methods (resorption of tablets, rinsing). Numerous methods of treatment should be applied purposefully, therefore it is important to understand not only the localization of the lesion (in tonsillitis, usually the palatine tonsils), but also the type of pathogen (virus, bacteria).
If we are talking about the acute form of tonsillitis, then the answer to the question "how to get rid of sore throat forever" can only be this: through timely treatment with the obligatory inclusion of etiotropic drugs in the therapy regimen. Nevertheless, it will still not be possible to cure a sore throat in 4 hours: the inflammatory process proceeds according to certain mechanisms in stages, and it is impossible to stop it without harming the body even more. Also, you cannot cure a sore throat in 1 day - for the same reason.
How to treat angina in an adult? There are several principles of therapy:
- Mode. This is bed rest during a fever, isolation of the patient to prevent transmission of infection to others.
- Continuity and consistency of treatment. If the patient has a sore throat, it is necessary to treat it comprehensively. All methods of treatment should be compatible with each other, and medicines should be selected taking into account contraindications.
- Local and systemic therapy. Angina and its treatment require a combination of both methods. Systemic therapy is usually represented by antibiotics (in tablet or injectable form), and local - by means of local exposure (lozenges, lozenges, sprays).
With angina, etiotropic (antibacterial) therapy is required. It is important to understand that there are not only primary, but also secondary tonsillitis, which can begin against the background of the underlying pathology.
Although the first variant of the course is much more common, it is impossible to exclude the possibility of changes in the throat accompanying agranulocytosis, leukemia, typhoid fever, tularemia. Therefore, if the patient has a sore throat, treatment should be individualized.
Components of the therapy regimen
How to treat acute tonsillitis and what constitutes a properly formed therapy regimen for this disease? There are several types of treatment:
- etiotropic;
- pathogenetic;
- symptomatic.
You can also divide therapy into systemic and local (topical). When we treat angina quickly, antibacterial and antiviral drugs are prescribed as part of etiotropic therapy. Bacterial sore throats are most common, and since in most cases the causative agent is beta-hemolytic streptococcus, you need to choose an agent whose spectrum of activity extends to this pathogenic microorganism (Cefazolin, Cefuroxime, Azithromycin). Antiviral drugs (Interferon-alpha) are needed when infected with herpes viruses.
The treatment regimen for angina from pathogenetic drugs usually includes antihistamines (Cetirizine, Loratadin, Chloropyramine). Symptomatic treatment refers to medications that relieve or eliminate the symptoms of tonsillitis. Their use is first aid for angina, since the classic complaints are pain when swallowing, fever, headache. Symptomatic drugs include mainly antipyretic, or antipyretics (Paracetamol, Ibuprofen). They not only eliminate fever, but also reduce the severity of pain.
Combined preparations for topical use constitute a separate group of medicines. They cannot replace systemic antibiotic therapy, but complement its action, acting simultaneously as an etiotropic, pathogenetic and symptomatic agent (Anzibel, Suprima-Lor, Givalex), since they contain:
- local antiseptic (Hexetidine, Chlorhexidine);
- anti-inflammatory component (Flurbiprofen, Enoxolon);
- analgesic component (Lidocaine, Benzocaine).
Thus, it is necessary to treat angina in adults using several drugs: an antibiotic, combined topical agents in the form of lozenges and / or sprays, an antihistamine, additional symptomatic agents if necessary. All medications must be recommended by a doctor after a face-to-face consultation.
Best local remedies
Having thought about how to defeat a sore throat, attention should be paid to considering the features of local therapy - the impact directly on the lesion focus.
To do this, use:
- combined topical preparations;
- throat rinses.
Combined topical preparations have already been discussed in the previous section.
These funds allow you to treat sore throat and cope with symptoms such as severe swelling, perspiration.
With their help, the pain also becomes less pronounced - but if it is very severe, you have to use additional drugs (for example, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs - Ibuprofen, Paracetamol).
How to treat a sore throat? When choosing a combination drug for an adult, they pay attention to the likely contraindications, the release form (tablets, spray). Sometimes patients are sensitive to individual components (menthol, lidocaine) - in such adults, treatment is carried out with drugs with an individually selected composition.
The longer the contact with the active substance, the more pronounced the effect. This speaks in favor of tablets and lozenges, which should be absorbed slowly, often making swallowing movements - thus, the mucous membrane is moistened while the drug is applied to it. Its concentration is maintained at a constant level for some time, and a uniform distribution over the contact surface is achieved.
Throat gargles are considered an integral part of the therapeutic regimen, and effective treatment is unthinkable without a gargle.
How to quickly cure a sore throat? Home remedies are often used - for example, solutions with salt, soda and iodine, herbal infusions (chamomile, sage). Local antiseptics (Hexetidine, Chlorhexidine, Hydrogen peroxide) can also be used.
The purpose of rinsing is the same as for resorption of tablets: application of a medicinal substance to the surface of the mucous membrane of the affected area.Comparative analysis of the effectiveness made it possible to establish that the parameters of the distribution of the drug and the duration of its effect when rinsing and using sprays coincide. Elimination of purulent deposits with the help of rinsing occurs only partially, especially when the accumulation of exudate deep in the lacunae of the tonsils.
Providing "first aid"
How to deal with angina? Knowing the principles of therapy and the features of the use of basic drugs, you can take some actions yourself. Angina in adults is treated at home, with the development of complications requiring specialist supervision - in a hospital. What to do with angina?
- Provide plentiful warm drinks (water, tea, compote).
- Gargle with warm salt solution 8 to 10 times a day.
- Gargle with infusion or decoction of chamomile up to 8 times a day.
- Use calendula tincture for rinsing, dissolving the required amount in warm water (up to 5 times a day).
- Use local combined products (Strepsils Intensive, Anzibel) according to the instructions.
Gargle should be done after meals and at least 30 minutes before eating food or liquids.
You can gargle with saline solutions, infusions and decoctions of medicinal plants every hour, in general, up to 10 times a day. Means with matching components can be alternated. For angina in an adult, treatment includes local antiseptics, they are used from 3 to 5 times a day.
Since the patient's body temperature rises, it is necessary to monitor compliance with bed rest, with an increase in values up to 38.5 ° C or more, take an antipyretic (Ibuprofen, Paracetamol), controlling both a single and daily dose.
It is imperative to control the humidity and temperature in the room (50–70%, 19–22 ° C). The patient is forbidden to smoke, breathe dry overheated or, conversely, very cold air. We must not forget that non-drug methods also cure.
How to get rid of pain quickly? The first rule: drink a lot of warm liquid, breathe humid air at a comfortable temperature. To alleviate the symptom, you can use lozenges, sprays and rinses with pain relievers, if the pain is very severe, take an Ibuprofen tablet. The inflammation must be cured and the pain will disappear.
All of the above measures are relevant until the condition improves, but the absence of antibiotic therapy is permissible only on the first day. If sore throat begins, what to do? When the sore throat does not subside or, on the contrary, intensifies, regardless of the treatment being carried out, the patient should be examined by a doctor in order to prescribe etiotropic agents and explain how to properly treat angina in a particular case.
Precautionary measures
Treatment of acute tonsillitis requires confidence in the diagnosis and knowledge of the characteristics of the disease, the drugs used, as well as a thorough study of the patient's condition. Therefore, the doctor selects an effective method of therapy. But since the patient often has to heal on his own immediately after the onset of symptoms, the following should be avoided:
- The use of packaged "antiviral" drugs (Fervex, Teraflu). They contain no antibiotics or antiviral components; in addition, unreasonable relief of fever negates the protective capabilities of the immune system. Therefore, thinking about how to cure a sore throat in one day, you cannot turn to such medicines.
- Irritant substances. These are cold or hot drinks, kerosene, undiluted vinegar or alcohol. They will not help to quickly get rid of a sore throat, but as a result of use, a new pathological process may begin. Any alternative methods of treatment should be discussed in advance with your doctor.
- Mechanical impact. As a therapeutic measure, lubrication of the tonsils with Lugol's solution and other drugs remains popular - it is believed that this method will help to quickly and effectively cure a sore throat. But in reality, it should only be used on the recommendation of a doctor. There are many options for applying drugs to the mucous membrane of the tonsils, and all of them are safer than smearing with a cotton swab.
Tonsils with tonsillitis are extremely sensitive to irritants, therefore, methods of treating sore throats should be minimally traumatic.
In most cases, the patient experiences severe pain, and the symptoms of pain should not be aggravated. Rapid treatment of sore throat is the achievement of significant improvement within a few days after the start of therapy and complete recovery on the 7-10th day. It is extremely difficult to speed up the restoration of the tonsils and interrupt the incipient inflammatory process, if only because the obvious symptoms of angina appear acutely, suddenly, and the "expanded" period of the disease cannot be predicted in advance.
Self-treatment of angina in adults is unacceptable. At the same time, the occurrence of a sore throat does not always mean the presence of acute tonsillitis. Therefore, if the patient does not have the opportunity to immediately consult a doctor, you can start treatment at home and assess the condition a day later. If you have severe sore throat, excruciating headache and no relief from topical or systemic pain relievers, or nausea or vomiting, seek immediate medical attention.
