You'll usually make a full recovery after three or four days.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Del Mar CB, Glasziou PP, Spinks AB.
Antibiotics for sore throat (Cochrane review).
In: The Cochrane Library, Issue 4, 2004. Wiley, Chichester, UK.

 

 

 

 

 

¹ Painkillers can make you more comfortable while you're getting better. Some people also try simple remedies to soothe a sore throat. To read more, see Home remedies for a sore throat.

If you go to see your doctor, he or she may take a sample of tissue from your throat to test for Streptococci. These bacteria are a common cause of sore throats.

Sometimes the infection that causes a sore throat spreads. If this happens, you may become hoarse or lose your voice (laryngitis), get an ear infection, or get sinusitis. Sinusitis causes pain in the face.

Very rarely, a sore throat can cause serious complications. These include an abscess on your tonsils, rheumatic fever or a kidney infection.

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Cooper RJ, Hoffman JR, Bartlett G, et al.
Principles of appropriate antibiotic use for acute pharyngitis in adults: background.
Annals of Internal Medicine. 2001; 134: 509-517.

 

 

 

 

 

²

 

 

 

 

 

Source:
Olivier C.
Rheumatic fever: is it still a problem?
Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy. 2000; 45: 13-24.

 

 

 

 

 

³

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