Two Hour Sore Throat: What Gives?

This morning I found myself suffering from a severe sore throat while I was shopping for groceries.  It started out as a mild scratchy feeling at the back of my tongue - almost like there was a piece of food sitting there that I hadn't swallowed properly.  Then the pain started to develop and spread.  My entire throat was on fire.  I finished gathering my groceries as quickly as possible and headed for the tills.  Luckily the store wasn't all that busy and I was able to head home right away.

At the store I had purchased some Halls lozenges.  They helped a bit but the pain in my throat was still quite intense.  I was feeling very ill.  Despite this, I was able to get the groceries put away but I needed to lay down.  I ended up sleeping for a couple of hours - and the entire sore throat was gone.


This is very peculiar.  First of all, any sore throats that I have experienced are usually the result of a cold and they last sometimes for an entire day or perhaps even several days after which the runny nose, coughing, etc. of a cold make an appearance.  Today though, none of that.  Two hours of sore throat pain and then its gone without a trace.

Secondly, this is the third time that this has happened to me.  A couple of years ago I experienced this same situation and it freaked the hell out of me given that it was so painful.  I took myself to a hospital emergency and had my throat looked at.  There was some redness but there didn't seem to be a problem and the pain was gone within a few hours and no cold developed after.  Earlier this year I was going out for supper and had one of these sore throat attacks.  Same thing - extreme pain for a couple of hours and then no cold symptoms.  I went to a clinic and had my throat looked at but by the time I saw a doctor, all of the pain had subsided and he couldn't see anything wrong.

Today I figured that this was the same malady.  So, I decided to suck it up, take the pain, get myself home and go to bed.  I wanted to see if the sore throat would go away after a couple of hours.  Sure enough, it was gone by the time I woke up.  What gives?

I've done a bit of searching online for information on this but can't seem to find anything.  Most information that I have found deals with extreme sore throats that last for days or weeks and that end up needing medical attention.

I wonder if this is potentially related to acid coming up from my stomach and settling in the back of my throat.  I just don't understand what this is.  It is unpleasant to experience.  I hope that it doesn't happen again or, if it does, that the frequency does not increase.  Weird.

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