Sore Throat Treatment in Suwanee, GA
Not all sore throats are Strep. At the same time, not all other sore throats are viral. In fact, research has shown that the vast majority of sore throats as well as ear aches are not viral and do respond to antibiotics. Furthermore, neglecting a sore throat, Strep or otherwise, can lead to other much more serious consequences such as sinus infections, bronchitis, pneumonia, and even meningitis.
Patients know their own bodies, and parents know their children. Most infections start in the throat as it is the easiest access an infectious agent has to enter our bodies. If a sore throat goes away the next day, fantastic. But often as not, the sore throat worsens and now expands into a headache, or that tickle is now a full on cough keeping you awake at night. There is no need to “just let it run its course.” Instead of suffering for days on end, we can treat this and get you feeling better in a matter of days and not weeks.
Strep Throat used to be the scourge of the youth; something you grew out of over time. The pendulum has swung both ways; first sore throat and out come the tonsils. A decade later, it took a dozen strep infections before the ENT doctor got to do his thing. After all, its just a bad sore throat. Well, it was bad enough to kill the Father of our Country. Yep, ole G. Washington himself died of a Strep infection. It started in his throat then soon spread to his epiglottis (that part that closes up when you swallow to keep things going down the wrong way). This caused it to swell over four days, slowly closing off his breathing. All the while, his doctors, one of which was Dr. Benjamin Rush, signer of the Declaration of Independence, treated him with the best of modern medicine; they gave him purgatives (gets things out of both ends… explosively), poultices (think big bandage with Cayenne pepper), and blood letting to the tune of over 8 liters (about 2/3 of his entire blood volume). Yet despite all this, he breathed his last breath on December 14, 1799…probably to get away from his doctors.
Today, we treat with antibiotics and anti-inflammatories—no leaches or no blood letting—and in 24-48 hours you feel better and often as not you get to keep your tonsils.
Ear Aches
Ear Aches are a totally different beast depending on the age of the patient. Infants and kids get ear aches mainly as a function of just introduction to the world of infections; But also as important is the anatomy of the inner ear in relation to their head size and shape. That cute little round head makes them adorable to us but also has a cost. That shape makes one of the inner ear parts lie at at an angle making fluid drain down and out. Out as in to the inner ear drum where it stops and infections now have the equivalent of a bacteria swimming pool and spa.
We have resorted to all manner of techniques to prevent recurrent ear infections; A vaccine was developed to prevent the most common bacterial infection, the H flu vaccine (this is not to be confused with a seasonal flu shot). All this did was shift the bacteria which cause the infections but the number of infections soon caught up to what they always were. Next came ‘tubes’.
Actual little tubes to let fluid out and the inner ear to keep airing out. The idea actually stems from when we used to stick a small needle in the ear and puncture the ear drum to draw out the fluid, relieving the pressure and then we would culture the fluid to see what bacteria was causing the infection. Great idea from the standpoint of the one holding the needle. Talk about a sharp, stabbing pain! But it worked and was part of the physicians training and methods to treat patients with earaches. The Tube approach used today is a much less painful process and has proven to be effective in not only preventing ear infections but also reducing the side effect of slowing a child’s language development (if you can hear better, you will learn to speak faster and better).
By the time the patient reaches 7 to 8 years old the face elongates and this inner ear section, the Eustachian tube, changes its angle to one thats lower in the back of the throat allowing the inner ear to drain down the back of the throat and not towards the ear drum. This is when ear infection rates drop significantly. It doesn’t mean adults don’t get ear infections, just at a much, much, lower rate. In fact, whenever an adult has an ear infection it almost always occurs as a result of a sinus infection spreading and blocking the Eustachian tube.
Regardless of the cause, a course of antibiotics, usually oral but sometimes combined with drops, will soon put things right.
