How to Treat Dry Throat
If you have a dry throat problem, of course, your daily activities will be disrupted. When you speak you will also feel a pain in your throat. For that you need to know what the cause is so that you can do how to treat dry throat.
Often a dry throat problem is accompanied by itching and pain in the throat. This condition may be a symptom of a throat or mouth disorder. The two conditions associated with dry throat problems are laryngitis and dry mouth.
Causes of Dry Throat
There are 2 things that can cause a dry throat, namely laryngitis and dry mouth.
1. Laryngitis
Laryngitis is a condition that most often causes dry throat problems accompanied by itching and hoarseness. Laryngitis is inflammation of the vocal cords due to excessive use of the vocal cords or due to infection.
Based on the time span of the onset of symptoms, there are 2 types of laryngitis, namely:
- Acute laryngitis is a short-term laryngitis that is usually caused by viral and bacterial infections such as the corona virus and Streptococcus bacteria.
- Chronic laryngitis is a long-term laryngitis usually caused by cigarette smoke, allergies, stomach acid irritation and drinking alcohol.
Generally when you have laryngitis you will feel symptoms in the form of a dry and sore throat, itching in the throat that appears continuously, hoarse voice, and dry cough.
Also read articles about: How to Treat Dry Cough in Adults
2. Dry mouth
Besides being caused by laryngitis, dry throat can also be caused by dry mouth. This condition can occur because the salivary glands do not produce enough saliva. Dry mouth can usually occur when a person is dehydrated, has nerve damage in the neck or head area, takes certain drugs, smokes, or suffers from certain diseases.
Symptoms that are felt when experiencing dry mouth are continuous thirst, dry throat, sore throat, sores at the corners of the mouth, difficulty chewing, disturbances in the sense of taste, tongue feels rough, dry, red, and chapped lips.
How to Treat Dry Throat At Home
If a dry throat is caused by laryngitis, you can do some self-treatment at home by drinking mineral water, gargling with warm salt water, inhaling an inhaler that contains menthol, and consuming mints or lozenges (throat lozenges). It's best if you don't smoke just yet and give your voice a break.
How to treat dry throat fast due to laryngitis can be by taking corticosteroid medicine or antibiotics (if the cause is a bacterial infection), but the use of these medicine must be in accordance with the doctor's advice.
If the cause of a dry throat is due to dry mouth, then you can overcome it by chewing sugar-free or low-sugar type gum to increase salivation, drinking mineral water, breathing through the nose instead of through the mouth, keeping the humidity of the air in the bedroom so that your respiratory tract does not get drier.
If you have tried how to treat dry throat naturally but have not succeeded, then you should consult a doctor. The doctor will provide appropriate treatment according to the cause.
For example, if your dry mouth is caused by a blockage in your nose, your doctor will prescribe a decongestant. If dry mouth is caused by the consumption of certain medicines, the doctor will reduce the dose of these drugs or replace them with other medicines. Then if dry mouth is caused by radiotherapy treatment, the doctor can give pilocarpine.
A dry throat is indeed very disturbing your activities because you will have difficulty speaking and also swallowing food or drink. If these complaints continue to bother you, then immediately consult a doctor to find out what the cause is so that it can be addressed in the right way. Thus an explanation of how to treat dry throat may be useful.
