It is hard to find someone who has never experienced a sore throat at some point in life. Dealing with scratching, itching, and burning is never fun, but it becomes even more annoying when these symptoms just won't go away. Most people find relief by taking some home care measures, but others will continue to feel miserable. Keep reading to find out more about the causes of a sore throat that won't go awayand things you can do about it.

Sore Throat Doesn't Heal, Why?

There can be a number of different reasons why you have acontinuous sore throat symptom.Here are a few of them for your understanding:

1. Viral Causes

Your may have a viral infection that's making things miserable for you, and the most common two are cold and mononucleosis.

• Cold: Cold will start with one symptom but will gradually become worse. You will experience symptoms such as cough, watery eyes, sneezing, slight headaches, mild temperature, and body aches. A sore throat often comes together with those symptoms. Cold usually lasts from a couple of days to a week, but coughing may continue for another couple of weeks. When you get cold, some kind of asthma can be formed in one's chest making people feel tight while wheezing, which can be relieved with inhalers.
• Mononucleosis: Your sore throat that won't go away could be due to mononucleosis. It continues to affect you for at least 10 days, but you may continue to feel weak until 12 weeks. You will also notice some other symptoms, such as swollen and sore armpit, lymph nodes, and tonsils. You may also have a swollen liver and even find some grayish patches on your tonsils. Fluids, rest, and anti-inflammatory medications will help relieve your symptoms a bit.

2. Bacterial Causes

Your sore throat could be due to a bacterial infection. This may happen due to a strep throat or tonsillitis.

• Strep throat: You will experience symptoms such as swollen neck glands, fever, and white patches on tonsils. You won't have coughing. Strep throat affects you all of a sudden and makes your throat turn into a beefy red color.
• Tonsillitis: A bacterial infection can lead to swollen tonsils with or without white patches on them. You may have to remove your tonsils if tonsillitis happens several times during a year. Typical symptoms of tonsillitis include fever, chills, trouble swallowing, sore throat, ear pain, loss of voice, and bad breath.

3. Other Causes

In addition to bacterial and viral causes, there are some other things can cause sore throat on you.

• Allergies: The most common allergy symptom is a runny nose with nasal congestion. Sinus congestion may also lead to headaches that become worse when you lie down.
• Reflux: Your sore throat could be due to reflux, a condition in which acid or food moves up the esophagus. Avoiding spicy foods and eating smaller meals may help in this case.
• Exposure to dry air or smoke: Working in an environment full of dry air or tobacco smoke may also lead to sore throat that won't go away.

How to Relieve Sore Throat That Doesn't Heal

You can try certain home remedies and tricks to relieve sore throat. These remedies may or may not work depending on the exact cause of your sore throat. Still, it is worth taking these homecare measures for relief.

1. Gargle with saline water. Simply add some salt in a cup of water and gargle. This will alleviate the discomfort associated with your sore throat.
2. Using a lozenge may also help because it contains menthol that numbs the tissue in your throat. Lozenges will provide temporary relief though. Don't give lozenges to young children because they are a choking hazard.
3. Add some honey to your regular tea and drink it slowly to soothe your irritated throat. Honey is also a cough suppressant, so you may want to use a drop of it the next time your throat starts to tickle.
4. Keep yourself hydrated by drinking plenty of water when you're dealing with a sore throat that won't go away. Drinking water helps to keep your throat lubricated and reduces inflammation.
5. Have a humidifier installed in your room if you always have to deal with an irritated throat. Moist air will soothe swollen tissues in your throat and nose. A humidifier adds moisture to your room and provides you with humid air to relieve dryness in your throat.
6. Take a steam shower. It is a great alternative to spend time in a room equipped with a humidifier. Turn on hot water in your bath and stay out for some time. Then, enter your bathroom and take deep breaths. You can also fill a sink with hot water and inhale steam to ease your sore throat.
7. Try over-the-counter pain relievers for viral infections. Some good choices include Aleve and Advil, both of which are anti-inflammatory medicines and offer some relief from pain.
8. Take antibiotics for relief. When other remedies don't work and there is a bacterial infection, you will have to take antibiotics for relief. Penicillin and erythromycin are the most common options here. Antibiotics will prove effective if the underlying cause of soreness is a strep throat. Be sure to complete the entire course of your antibiotics and don't stop using it even when you feel better after a couple of days.
9. Go see your doctor if your sore throat becomes worse even after taking all other homecare measures. Your doctor will check your symptoms and help diagnose the underlying cause of your sore throat to fix the issue.