Sore Throat
Sore Throat
Sore throats are very common and usually nothing to worry about. They normally get better by themselves within a week and people do not normally need antibiotics for a sore throat because they will not usually relieve their symptoms or speed up their recovery. They'll only be prescribed if a health professional thinks they could have a bacterial infection. Sore throats are usually caused by viruses (like cold or flu) or from smoking. Very occasionally they can be caused by bacteria. A sore throat can also be caused by laryngitis, tonsilitis, strep throat (a bacterial throat infection) or glandular fever.
If you have a sore throat you might have some or all of the below symptoms:
- A painful throat, especially when swallowing
- A dry, scratchy throat
- Redness in the back of your mouth
- Bad breath
- A mild cough
- Swollen neck glands
- A high temperature and appearing less active (Especially in children)
A community pharmacy is an ideal place to go to for support and guidance. You may be given that guidance and sold therapies for several ways of relieving the pain and discomfort of a sore throat, such as:
- Paracetamol or Ibuprofen
- Medicated lozenges containing a local anaesthetic, antiseptic, or anti-inflammatory medicine
- Anaesthetic spray
- Gargling with warm, salty water
- Drinking plenty of water
- Eating cool or soft foods
- Avoiding smoking or smoky places
- Sucking ice cubes, ice lollies or hard sweets
- Resting
Under the Pharmacy 1st scheme if a bacterial cause sore throat is confirmed, and dependant on the patient themselves, the pharmacist may prescribe antibiotics e.g. Phenoxymethylpenicillin (Pen V), Clarithroymin or Erythromycin.
However they will only prescribe these if certain criteria are met e.g.
- The patient falls into the correct age bracket for the prescribing
- The patient has the correct signs and symptoms to meet the prescribing criteria
- They do not fall into the excluded categories
- The registered healthcare professional should also have evidence of competence in the clinical skills and knowledge covered in the Centre for Pharmacy Postgraduate Education (CPPE) Pharmacy First Service self-assessment framework. This evidence can be found at the following link CPPE Pharmacy First. Numarknet has partnered with CIG our training provider and a downloadable document with links to the CIG website and enroling on the external CIG training can all be found at the following link ECG Pharmacy First . The document is called ECG Pharmacy First Training Booking Guide.
