What is the difference between laryngitis and pharyngitis?

Sore throat is not all the same: it is good to understand if it is pharyngitis or laryngitis, to choose the right treatment and avoid risk factors.

It’s easy to say “I have a sore throat”, but what kind of sore throat is it? What caused it? And, above all, how do you make it go away? All questions that can generally be answered by paying attention to the symptoms, the mode of onset, age and lifestyle habits of the person concerned. Let’s see which ones.

How to understand what it is

The most common forms of sore throat, from which practically everyone has suffered at least once both in childhood and in adulthood, are essentially two: pharyngitis and laryngitis.

As the suffix “-ite” suggests, it is in both cases an inflammation, but in the first case to be affected is the “upper” part of the throat, the one that connects the back of the nose with the esophagus and that can be easily seen behind the uvula, opening the mouth wide in front of the mirror.

In the second case, however, the “lower” part of the throat is inflamed, that is, the one that acts as an “antechamber” of the trachea and contains the vocal cords. The larynx can not be easily seen from the outside and to evaluate it, in case of disorders, it is necessary that the otolaryngologist performs a laryngoscopy, inserting a small probe mounted on a flexible tube, through the nose.

Since the pharynx and larynx have very different structure and functions, a completely similar inflammatory process affecting these two areas of the throat gives rise to quite peculiar symptoms, which easily orient the diagnosis.

Typical symptoms of pharyngitis are:

• burning, pain and swelling of the tissues of the back of the palate and back of the mouth
• difficulty swallowing
• Sometimes a sense of itching or dryness of the throat, which is generally also hypersensitive to cold and heat, to acidic, salty or spicy foods and, sometimes, even to the simple entry of air while breathing.

In laryngitis, however, the burning, pain and swelling are located lower and earlier, there are often a feeling of dryness / itching in the throat, persistent dry cough and a certain difficulty in breathing, but the real distinctive symptom concerns the voice, which changes timbre, becoming more hoarse or more strident, uneven and weaker, until it disappears completely in the most severe inflammations (aphonia).

The main causes of sore throat

The factors that can lead to the development of pharyngitis and laryngitis are quite similar. The main ones are:

• viral infections
• exposure to too cold air
• temperature changes
• excessive stress imposed on the throat and vocal cords due to intense or prolonged use (mainly for professional reasons, as in the case of teachers, singers, actors, etc.).

On the contrary, bacterial infections are at the origin of a minimal share of pharyngitis and even less of laryngitis.

A largely underestimated cause of both types of sore throat is cigarette smoking, cigars etc. Smoking exerts an irritating and pro-inflammatory action directed on the mucous membranes of the pharynx and larynx and, at the same time, reduces the local immune defenses of the respiratory system, facilitating the onset of viral and bacterial infections.

Added to this is the carcinogenic effect of smoking, which affects not only the lungs, but also the mouth and vocal cords. To the point that the majority of laryngeal cancers involve heavy smokers, especially if they also take discrete amounts of alcohol, equally harmful to the mucous membranes of the mouth, throat and salivary glands.

Another important factor that promotes the development of pharyngitis and laryngitis is air pollution, certainly characterized by an irritating and globally damaging action on the respiratory system, although there are not yet sufficient data to establish precisely the actual damage caused in adults and children.

A more subtle cause of chronic sore throat and, in particular, seemingly unmotivated laryngitis is undiagnosed gastroesophageal reflux. Even when it is mild and is not perceived by the person concerned, the ascent of gastric acid droplets to the throat during sleep has a very irritating effect on the mucous membranes of the larynx, being able to cause inflammation, pain and chronic hoarseness, even very intense.

Some allergies to pollen, mold, dust mites, abundant intake of spicy or very spicy foods, and exposure to very dry air can also cause a sore throat (mainly, pharyngitis).

How to relieve symptoms and breathe better

Since what has already been said, it is evident that the main useful actions to prevent both pharyngitis and laryngitis consist in avoiding:

• smoke
• Alcohol
• Irritating drinks and foods
• exposure to cold or dry air (protecting the nose and mouth with the scarf in the winter months).
• the practice of sports in polluted areas (for example jogging in traffic, especially if the weather conditions are not the best).

When the sore throat is already present, in isolation or in the context of the manifestations of influenza or another seasonal illness, you can try to alleviate it with some practical measures, indicated in case of both pharyngitis and acute laryngitis.

In particular, it should be remembered to often drink liquids at room temperature or lukewarm, non-acidic (natural water, herbal teas, milk with or without honey, vegetable broths, chicken or meat not too salty, etc.), slowly suck candies based on extracts of licorice, mint or eucalyptus (preferably without sugar), try to talk and strain the throat as little as possible, Rest in a well-moistened room.

Since, although recommended, these interventions will hardly be able to eliminate alone the symptoms of a pharyngitis or laryngitis of a certain importance, to dampen in a more marked and specific way the inflammation that supports them, you can resort to sprays or anti-inflammatory tablets to be dissolved slowly in the mouth. Among the various proposals easily available in pharmacies without a prescription, those based on flurbiprofen, ketoprofen or naproxen, indicated for adults and children over 12 years, were particularly effective.

Compared to antiseptics, another category of locally acting products that can be purchased in pharmacies to treat sore throats, anti-inflammatory products are characterized by a longer duration of action (up to six hours) and act directly on inflammation, that is, on the process that causes the annoying symptoms that we want to eliminate (pain, difficulty swallowing, swollen throat).

An important warning is not to take too many anti-inflammatories at the same time: therefore, if the sore throat is present together with the flu and you are also using a mouth medication based on ibuprofen or acetylsalicylic acid, anti-inflammatory tablets should be avoided or taken at least 4 hours apart from the other medicines.

The combination of these interventions is generally sufficient to overcome the common episodes of acute pharyngitis or laryngitis. However, if the situation does not improve within 3-4 days or if the sore throat should recur it is often good to consult the doctor for a more thorough evaluation.