You are pregnant and have a sore throat

A sore throat during pregnancy can bother a woman for various reasons. The causes may be simple sore throat, sore throat due to poor microclimate (increased dry air), disruption of the immune system and other serious diseases. Read more about this.

Cause of sore throat during pregnancy

“There are many possible causes of sore throat in pregnant women – acid reflux, asthma, allergies, bacterial or fungal infections, pollutants or chemicals. But most of the causes of sore throats are viral infections, says Mary L. Rosser, assistant professor of obstetrics and gynecology and women’s health at Albert Einstein College. If you are pregnant, a sore throat can often be bothersome due to postnasal drips.

Acid reflux (heartburn) and sore throat in pregnant women

This is a condition where stomach acid does not stay in its place in the stomach and creeps up into the esophagus.

Causes of heartburn in pregnant women

Heartburn is a very common condition during pregnancy because progesterone, the main pregnancy hormone, slows down the digestive system. This, combined with the pressure on a growing baby’s stomach, increases the likelihood that stomach acid will rise to the top and cause a sore throat.

Symptoms of heartburn during pregnancy

The most common symptoms of acid reflux are a burning sensation in the throat or upper chest. You may also feel nauseous. Burping and regurgitation in pregnant women can also be a sign of acid reflux.

Diagnosis of the causes of heartburn during pregnancy

Most often, heartburn during pregnancy is diagnosed when the woman is at rest. But if you continue to experience heartburn after pregnancy, your doctor may recommend additional testing, including an endoscopy, a test that is used to see the condition of the inside of the upper digestive tract.

How common is heartburn during pregnancy?

“Heartburn is an extremely common symptom during pregnancy,” says Michelle Collins, assistant professor of nurse-midwifery at Vanderbilt University. More than half of all pregnant women experience heartburn during pregnancy.

As your digestion slows, you have less space in your stomach, so acid makes its way up into your esophagus. This causes a sore throat due to the overly acidic environment, which contains poisonous hydrochloric acid.

How can a pregnant mother’s acid reflux affect her unborn baby?

Heartburn should not affect the baby in any way. And don’t listen to stories about your baby being born hairy if you have heartburn. This is wrong.

Asthma and sore throat in pregnant women

Asthma is a potentially serious lung disease. During an asthma attack, a woman’s airways are partially blocked, limiting air flow and oxygen circulation throughout the body.

Causes of asthma in pregnant women

Asthma is usually a hereditary disease. So if your mom and aunt had asthma, you were probably born with a tendency for the disease. Exposure to certain viral infections and allergens in early childhood also leads to asthma.

Symptoms of asthma during pregnancy

The most common signs of asthma are wheezing, shortness of breath, and chest tightness. A persistent cough that usually occurs at night or early in the morning (when the pregnant woman may be cold) can also be a sign of asthma. Because a woman coughs or chokes during an asthma attack, she may experience a sore throat due to irritation of the mucous membrane.

Diagnosis of asthma in pregnant women

If your doctor suspects a woman has asthma (or if she has a history of asthma), he or she will recommend the following tests: Allergen test Spirometry (upper respiratory function test) Measurement of the volume of exhalation in 1 second and the volume of the lungs, called vital capacity . They are used to judge how permeable the bronchi are. Chest radiography (with this method, the degree of transparency of the lungs and their tendency to grow connective tissue are determined)

How common is asthma during pregnancy?

About 4 to 8 percent of pregnant women suffer from asthma.

How does a pregnant mother’s asthma affect the unborn child?

Don’t worry – as long as you manage your pregnancy conditions and keep them under control, the chances are good that your baby will be born healthy. But if asthma in pregnancy is not well controlled, your baby will likely have a low birth weight and/or be born too early.

“What’s very, very important and important during pregnancy is making sure the baby is getting enough oxygen,” says Rebecca Kolp, MD, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Massachusetts General Hospital. – If you don’t breathe in normal amounts of oxygen, your baby won’t get enough oxygen either, so controlling asthma is especially important for moms. Then you can cope with sore throats during asthma attacks.”

Allergies during pregnancy and sore throat

Whether it’s food allergies or hay fever, it’s important to know how to manage it during pregnancy. What medications can I take? What risks are there for the child? How to cope with a sore throat during allergies during pregnancy?

What are allergies during pregnancy?

It is completely normal (and useful!) for a mother during pregnancy to be able to promptly recognize the presence of a harmful foreign agent in the body. At this time, the body declares an all-out war against the “invader,” which is not so bad. This is just a signal from the body that it is necessary to remove an object that irritates the body and prevents both the organs of the expectant mother and the child’s body from functioning normally.

Causes of allergies in pregnant women

Some women are genetically predisposed to allergies. Others develop allergies due to constant and frequent exposure to allergens.

What are the signs of allergies during pregnancy?

Nasal congestion, sneezing, watery eyes, itching, pain and sore throat are the main signs of allergies, and there is also hay fever. Other types of allergies can also cause hives – bumps, itching, swelling of the face, or itching and redness of the skin of the entire body or certain parts of it.

Diagnosis of allergies during pregnancy

Sometimes allergies are diagnosed after symptoms appear. Or if you suspect that the body is reacting incorrectly to something. (For example, if you experience swelling after taking antibiotics, you are likely allergic to those antibiotics.)

But sometimes these are vague symptoms that are difficult to diagnose, so an allergist may recommend an allergy test. Skin testing is a mirror of allergen testing. If your skin reacts with redness or itching to something, you are allergic to that substance. Testing can be carried out for single allergens or complex.

How common are allergies during pregnancy?

Allergies during pregnancy are quite common. About 20 percent of women, or one in five, suffer from allergies during pregnancy.

How a mother’s allergies can affect the unborn child

If mom has a serious allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) that interferes with breathing during pregnancy and causes a sore throat, your baby will not suffer. But in the future he may experience allergic reactions – after birth.

Nausea and sore throat in pregnant women

Nausea during pregnancy can also cause frequent sore throats, as it is often accompanied by gag reflexes. Vomit irritates the mucous membrane of the throat, causing pain. But could this be a sign of something more serious?

What can cause nausea during pregnancy?

At the beginning of pregnancy, a woman may experience morning sickness – nausea, and this condition is caused by new hormones that are secreted during pregnancy. Nausea is usually at its worst between 6 and 14 weeks of gestation. Nausea, vomiting and sore throat for these reasons are also quite common in the last few weeks of pregnancy and can even be a symptom of preterm labor.

Nausea can be a sign of serious medical conditions such as preeclampsia, hemolysis due to elevated liver enzymes and low platelet counts. Nausea and sore throat in pregnant women may occur due to indigestion syndrome or be a symptom of poisoning.

When to see a doctor

If you experience severe vomiting and the fluid does not stay inside you for more than one day, and your body is severely dehydrated, be sure to consult a doctor. Whatever the reasons for your discomfort that accompany sore throat during pregnancy, you should not joke with these conditions. It is better to consult a doctor once again and check the severity of the symptoms of sore throat during pregnancy in order to prevent negative consequences.

When to see a doctor for a sore throat during pregnancy

If your symptoms are very severe or last more than 24 hours, contact your doctor.

How to treat a sore throat during pregnancy

Try natural remedies first, such as gargling with salt water or warm water mixed with honey and lemon, and if these do not help, you can take paracetamol for a sore throat. For more serious symptoms that accompany a sore throat – nausea, weakness, high fever – consult a doctor. Treatment of sore throat during pregnancy depends primarily on the causes – the diseases that cause this pain. Let’s look at each of the diseases and its symptoms in more detail.