Painful sore throats can be downright tough, but let’s help you understand a bit more about what causes the pain and steps you can take to find the right relief for your symptoms.

Painful, swollen sore throat

A sore throat is essentially the tissues in the back of your mouth and throat becoming inflamed – usually in response to an infection. When you have a sore throat that is particularly painful, you might describe the feeling as prickly, sharp, stabbing pains like there are razor blades or knives in your throat. And while most sore throats go away by themselves after about seven days, there’s really no need to suffer with your throat pain – there are different ways you can manage the pain.

Sharp stabbing sore throat

An acute painful sore throat can be distressing, but you are not alone.

The most common cause of a sore throat is an infection that is caused by a virus or bacteria. Other things that can cause a painful sore throat include smoking, air pollution, hot and dry air, snoring or shouting. All of these things trigger inflammation, which is a key cause of the pain of a sore throat.

When you have a sharp, stabbing sore throat, try DIFFLAM® HEXTRA Sore Throat Lozenges. They contain hexylresorcinol, an antibacterial that helps to fight infections combined with a local anaesthetic properties to numb throat pain.