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My throat is absolutely killing me, and I can't get an appointment with Student Health Services until tomorrow afternoon. (They really suck something awful, everyone else tells me who'se been to them)
Is there anything whatsoever I can do to ease this pain???
Posts: 1934 | Registered: Jun 2001
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Warm salt water. If you have access to liquid Benadryl (or liquid store brand diphenhydramine), try gargling, then swallowing, a small amount of that. It has mild topical anesthetic properties. If you're like most people, it will also make you sleepy, so you can ignore the pain for a few hours.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Oh, and take Tylenol. It will not only help with the pain, it can bring down that streppy fever a bit to make you more comfortable. Swallow with the aid of hot tea with honey or lots and lots of sugar. If you really can't manage the pills, crush them up, or get the capsules and break one open, mix it with some applesauce, and take it that way.
Posts: 21182 | Registered: Sep 2004
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Ginger or lemon tea. For ginger, peel and slice about an inch of ginger root, add honey and boiling water. For lemon, use about a half a sliced lemon, also with honey and boiling water. Always made me feel better.
Posts: 8355 | Registered: Apr 2003
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If you truly suspect you have Strep throat, be sure to get a culture even if you start to feel better. And complete any antibiotics you are prescribed. Untreated Strep can lead to some very severe complications.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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A friend of mine had the strep spread to her leg. It was ugly and involved a stay in the hospital.
Posts: 1015 | Registered: Aug 2004
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The crazy thing about the strep test is that it takes about 5 minutes to get your results and that it takes 24 hours+ to get an appointment. By then, how many people have been infected? (Just a thought brought on by the fact that my coworker just went home today on antibiotics due to a strep related illness, one which she failed to mention until 12:00.)
Posts: 2064 | Registered: Dec 2003
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Strep is only spread by direct contact (kissing, sharing eating utensils, direct touching of skin lesions). You're not going to get infected by sitting in a classroom or office with someone with a Strep infection. Actually, most people have Strep on their skin and/or in their nose and throat anyway. It's an opportunistic pathogen that's just waiting for your immune system to give it a chance to invade your tissues.
Most doctors offices will do throat cultures without an office visit. The 5 minute Strep test is quick and dirty. You will still need a 24 hour culture to determine antibiotic resistance. And antibiotic resistant Strep is very rare, fortunately.
Posts: 2069 | Registered: May 2001
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