Is It Strep Throat? Check Your Symptoms

One of the worst feelings for illness is when it seems like you are about to feel sick in the throat. That scratchy dry feeling is often the harbinger of something more. Sometimes, it’s just a day old cold. Unfortunately, sometimes it can be more serious. One of the moderately difficult things that may appear is strep throat.

There are many people who have suffered from strep throat. The pain is very real to people suffering from it.  For some people it can be mild and managed like a sore throat or flu. For other people, the symptoms can become very serious and strike with high intensity.

Causes of Strep Throat

Strep throat is very common in children. From the age of 5 to the age of 15, they can be especially susceptible to getting strep throat. Strep throat is usually caused by people sneezing and coughing in an unprotected fashion to another person. People who share food or beverages will often find they are transmitting strep throat as well. Kids are taught to share, but in this case it can backfire. Unlike many other issues, strep throat is caused by bacteria. The name of the disease comes from the streptococcus bacteria that’s causing it after all.

Symptoms of Strep Throat

The symptoms of strep throat are often pretty obvious to the person who has them. However, not everyone will get every symptom. They can also be mild or very strong. Things to look out for include:

• Sore Red Throat - When looking inside the mouth at the throat of someone who has strep throat, it’s likely to see an inflamed red throat that also has many white patches. These patches are a huge sign that it’s strep throat.
• Sudden Fevers - Those who develop strep throat often get high fevers very quickly and seemingly out of nowhere.
• Chills - Suffering from unexpected and unexplained chills can be a symptom. Unlike something like the flu, typically strep throat won’t also cause the sweats.
• Swelling in the Lymph Nodes - This is another easy one to spot from the outside. A person’s lymph nodes will typically swell up quite large and be firm to the touch from the outside.
• Issues Swallowing - This increased swelling will often make swallowing things very difficult as well as painful.
• Headaches - Headaches are another symptom likely to be experienced, but headaches are a symptom of a wide variety of issues as well.

Symptoms develop reasonably quickly after a person has managed to be exposed to the bacteria causing strep throat. They should appear within 5 days or so.

Treatment of Strep Throat

When it comes to treating strep throat, a doctor will be able to examine a person and determine what they need. The most common treatment is going to be a simple round of antibiotics. This should take care of most cases of strep throat. Doctors can determine which one is right for any given patient depending on allergies and severity of the strep throat.

When children seem to be developing strep throat continuously and with high levels of severity, it’s possible that a doctor may suggest a tonsillectomy. Many children find that their issues with strep throat are greatly reduced after this minor surgery. This isn’t a cure. Children can still get strep, but it’s not as strong and not as often.