Throat pain is a common complaint that can arise from various causes, including infections, allergies, excessive use of the voice, or even stress. Whether it’s a scratchy throat, persistent soreness, or difficulty swallowing, throat pain can significantly impact daily life and well-being. While over-the-counter medications may offer temporary relief, acupuncture, a time-honored therapy rooted in Traditional Oriental Medicine (TOM), provides a natural and holistic approach to treating throat pain. In Tokyo, where the fast-paced lifestyle can take a toll on your health, acupuncture offers an opportunity to address the root causes of throat discomfort while promoting overall health and balance. This article will explore how acupuncture can effectively treat throat pain and why it’s becoming an increasingly popular choice in Tokyo for those seeking lasting relief.
Sore Throat (Pharyngitis)
A sore throat (pharyngitis) is a scratchy or burning feeling in the back of your throat. It may hurt to swallow or talk. Most sore throats happen because of a viral infection, like the common cold or flu. In addition to the soreness, you may have symptoms like a cough or runny nose. Most sore throat symptoms go away within three to 10 days.
What is a sore throat?
A sore throat, or “pharyngitis,” is a scratchy, painful feeling in the back of your throat (pharynx). It happens when the tissue lining your throat (mucosa) becomes inflamed. If you have a sore throat, it may hurt to swallow or talk.
Many things cause pharyngitis, from viral and bacterial infections to allergies and sleeping with your mouth open. Most sore throat symptoms go away with home care within a few days. But you should contact a healthcare provider if your sore throat lasts longer than a week, gets worse or you develop symptoms like a fever or swollen lymph nodes.
Types of pharyngitis
There are two main types of pharyngitis. Healthcare providers categorize them based on how long symptoms last:
- Acute pharyngitis: A sore throat that lasts from about three to 10 days. Most sore throats are acute pharyngitis.
- Chronic pharyngitis: A sore throat that lasts for more than 10 days (usually several weeks) or that keeps returning after you get better.
Symptoms and Causes
What are the symptoms of a sore throat?
Pharyngitis may start with a raspy feeling in your throat, as if your throat is dry. If your sore throat gets worse, you may feel a sharp pain in your throat when you swallow or talk. You may feel the pain in your ears or down the side of your neck.
If an infection is causing your sore throat, additional symptoms may include:
- Fever.
- Headache.
- Upset stomach.
- Swollen lymph nodes.
- Nasal congestion (stuffy nose).
- Runny nose.
- Cough.
- Fatigue.
- Hoarseness.
- Redness or swelling in your throat and tonsils.
- White patches, spots or streaks in your throat and tonsils.
What causes a sore throat?
Most sore throats happen because you have a viral infection, like the common cold or flu. Less often, a sore throat (pharyngitis) may be a sign of the following conditions or issues:
- Bacterial infection: Conditions like strep throat and bacterial sinus infections may cause a sore throat.
- Tonsillitis: Tonsillitis occurs when your tonsils become infected and inflamed. Bacteria and viruses can both cause tonsillitis.
- Allergies: Allergic reactions from pollen, dust mites, pets or mold can cause mucus from your nose to drip down the back of your throat (postnasal drip). This can lead to a sore throat.
- Acid reflux: People with gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) feel burning and pain in their throats. This pain, called heartburn, happens when acid from your stomach backs up into your food tube (esophagus).
- Overuse or irritants: You can strain your throat by yelling or screaming. You may also develop a sore throat if you eat spicy food, smoke or drink very hot liquids.
- Mouth breathing: You may have a sore throat if you breathe through your mouth instead of your nose when you’re sleeping.
- Tumors: Although a sore throat rarely means cancer, it’s one potential symptom of throat cancer or benign (noncancerous) growths.
Diagnosis and Tests
How is pharyngitis diagnosed?
Your healthcare provider will ask about your symptoms. They’ll perform a physical exam that involves looking at your throat, tongue and possibly your ears. They may do a strep test to check for the bacteria that causes strep throat.
Testing is important in case your provider can’t tell from your symptoms alone if your sore throat is related to a virus or bacteria. The results determine what treatments you’ll need.
Management and Treatment
How is a sore throat treated?
Treatment depends on what’s causing your pharyngitis. Viral infections usually clear up on their own within a week. In the meantime, your healthcare provider may recommend over-the-counter (OTC) medicines to ease your sore throat.
Other treatments for a sore throat may include:
- Antibiotics: You may need antibiotics to treat a bacterial infection. Most people need to take them for 10 days.
- Over-the-counter antihistamine medications: Antihistamines may dry postnasal drip related to allergies.
- Over-the-counter antacids: Antacids may help with acid reflux that causes heartburn and sore throats. Other steps, like avoiding big meals right before bedtime, may help.
- Prescription mouthwash: For a severe sore throat related to conditions like cancer, your provider may prescribe a special mouthwash (sometimes called “magic mouthwash”) that contains a mix of a numbing agent (like lidocaine), Benadryl® and Maalox®.
Prevention
How can I prevent a sore throat?
Viral infections like colds and the flu often cause pharyngitis. You can reduce your chances of getting a sore throat by protecting yourself against these common infections. You can:
- Stay up to date on vaccinations for the flu and COVID-19.
- Wash your hands often, using soap and water or alcohol-based sanitizers.
- Avoid sharing food, drinks or utensils.
- Avoid people with colds or other contagious respiratory infections.
- Avoid being around others when you’re sick to reduce the risk of spreading infectious diseases.
Acupuncture for Throat pain in Tokyo
Can acupuncture help a sore throat?
Traditional Oriental medicine is one of the treasures we have inherited from wise ancient civilisations. Acupuncture is one of the tools that have been successfully incorporated into modern life because of its ability to treat many symptoms and diseases in a non-invasive way, without side effects and with very good results.
Acupuncture works by inserting fine needles through the body’s energy channels to harmonise the flow of energy that can be disrupted by problems such as insomnia, stress, digestive disorders, and some infections.
It has also been found to be effective in the treatment of almost all types of pain, whether functional, such as digestive disorders or colic, or musculoskeletal, such as contractures or joint inflammation. It is also useful for headaches and pain caused by chronic or acute illnesses.
The WHO recognises the effectiveness of acupuncture in relieving pain and protecting people’s health and has drawn up a list of diseases and symptoms that can be treated with this tool with good results, according to the scientific evidence that is available.
Pharyngitis or inflammation of the throat or pharynx is one of them. It is a condition often caused by a bacterial or viral infection. It can cause discomfort, pain, or hoarseness and difficulty in swallowing or speaking. Most sore throats are caused by the viruses that cause the common cold or flu. In rare cases, the pain is caused by bacterial infections.
Pharyngitis can be chronic and acute. Chronic pharyngitis usually develops from recurrent acute pharyngitis, which does not heal; infections come and go within a week. It can also occur due to chronic inflammation caused by alcohol and tobacco abuse or by talking or shouting too loudly. In contrast, the acute version of pharyngitis is inflammation of the throat caused by common viruses.
The main symptom of this condition is a sore throat, but there are also other secondary symptoms, such as pain that worsens when swallowing or speaking, dryness of the throat, fever, a hoarse voice, and swollen glands.
Traditional Oriental medicine believes that pharyngitis occurs when the function of the lungs, stomach, and kidneys are weakened. In these circumstances, if external agents such as cold, wind, or rain enter the body, the body does not have enough resources to protect itself and the virus replicates in the throat and causes inflammation.
Some acupuncture techniques have been shown to be effective in relieving the inflammation and pain caused by these infections. If you have acute pharyngitis, treatment is much quicker, whereas a chronic process will take longer. In both cases, acupuncture has been shown to be effective in relieving symptoms and improving quality of life, although the treatment times vary a bit.
A study published in the journal Science Direct has explored the efficacy of acupuncture in relieving tonsillitis, and the results showed that in most of the patients studied, treatment of tonsillitis with classical Oriental acupuncture managed to control the main symptoms, including odynophagia and tonsil hypertrophy.
Differential Diagnosis
1) Wind heat invasion Abrupt onset with chills and fever, cough, congested and sore throat, thirst, headache, and dysphagia.
- Tongue: Red body with thin yellow coat
- Pulse: Superficial and rapid
2) Accumulation of heat in the Lung and Stomach Severe sore throat, difficulty in swallowing, high fever, thirst, ojostomia (foul breath), thick sputum, constipation and dark urine.
- Tongue: Red with yellow sticky coat
- Pulse: Full, rapid pulse
3) Dryness of the Lungs due to Yin deficiency Gradual onset without fever or with a low fever. Slightly congested throat with intermittent pain or pain during swallowing, dry throat, worse at night, five center heat.
- Tongue: Red tongue with no coat
- Pulse: Thready and rapid
Point and Technique Prescription
1) Wind heat invasion
Treatment Principle: Disperse pathogenic wind and heat. Reduce swelling to relieve sore throat.
Treatment focuses on the Lung channel of hand Tai Yin and the Large Intestine channel of hand Yang Ming.
- Lu 11, L.I. 1: The Jing well point of the Lung and L.I. channels. Bleeding them to let out a few drops will clear off the heat from the Lung and Large Intestine channels and relieve pain.
- L.I. 4 (reduce) and L.I. 11 (reduce) are important points for fever. L.I. 4 is the key point for the face and mouth.
- Lu 5: (reduce) The Water point on the Metal channel. Reducing this point sedates the son, which assists the mother with excess.
2) Accumulation of heat and toxin from Lung and Stomach.
Treatment Principle: Clear heat and relive pain. Treatment focuses on (though is not limited to) the hand and foot Yang Ming channels.
- Lu 11, L.I. 1: The Jing well point of the Lung and L.I. channels. Bleeding them to let out a few drops will clear off the heat from the Lung channel and relieve pain.
- St 44: (reduce) Ying spring point on the stomach channel. Ying spring points are for clearing heat. This one does so for the stomach channel.
- St 40: (reduce) Luo connecting point of Stomach channel, can clear phlegm by its association with the spleen. It also disperses Stomach heat. Heat in the stomach channel burns the Jin Ye leading to sputum.
3) Dryness of the Lungs due to Yin deficiency
Treatment Principle: Nourish Yin, moisten dryness and purge pathogenic fire to relieve sore throat.
- Kid 3: (reinforce) Kidney channel runs up to the throat, Kidney 3 nourishes Yin Lu 7, Kid 6, (reinforce) a pair of the eight confluent points. Lung, Kidney, Ren, and Yin Qiao all meet in the throat, the lungs and the chest.
- Kidney 3, 6, and Lung 7 relieve sore throat by leading the Xu fire downward by nourishing the Yin.
- Lu 10: (even) Ying spring point of the Lung channel, Ying spring can reduce (xu) fire. Ren 23: (even) Local point, plus the Ren channel runs the entire length of the throat. This point is called “Ridge Spring” (Lian Quan) and is a spring of water, kind of.
Conclusion
Throat pain can be both physically and mentally draining, often disrupting daily activities and communication. While conventional treatments may offer temporary solutions, acupuncture provides a holistic, long-term approach by targeting the underlying imbalances in the body that contribute to throat discomfort. By restoring the flow of energy and promoting healing, acupuncture offers a natural and effective way to alleviate throat pain.
If you are in Tokyo and struggling with throat pain, FuJi Wellness is here to help. Our skilled acupuncturists use personalized treatments to address your unique needs, guiding you toward a pain-free, healthier life.
Visit FuJi Wellness today and experience the healing benefits of acupuncture, where your well-being is our priority. Let us help you restore balance and find lasting relief from throat pain in a calm and welcoming environment.
Fuji Wellness:
- Address: 132-0031 Matsushima 1-chome, 21-14, Tokyo, Japan
- Contact: Click here
- Email: sunnyphamsensei@gmail.com
