Q: The weather has turned cold, I recently feel very dry and painful in the throat, and also want to cough incessantly, is this suffering from laryngitis? A: The throat is the connection channel between the natural environment and the human body’s small environment. Whenever the seasons change, especially the current autumn and winter seasons, the dry and cold air will directly stimulate the mucous membrane of the throat and cause local discomfort. The most common symptoms are dryness of the throat, pain and resulting irritating cough, which are consistent with the clinical characteristics of chronic laryngitis. At this time, we should not just use antibiotics to fight “inflammation”, but should actively treat the symptoms, such as keeping the throat warm, avoiding excessive strain, smoking and alcohol, and combining with some Chinese medicine is the best treatment at present. Q: I recently found that there is always a foreign body in my throat, and sometimes I see something white on my tonsils. I’m scared, can this give birth to a tumor? A: The white stuff you found may be the keratinized material secreted from the tonsillar fossa, which usually falls off on its own and is often swallowed into the stomach with food or spit out from the mouth with coughing. We generally do not advocate actively picking out these keratoses so as to avoid unnecessary infections. If you are still unsure, you can visit your doctor for a closer examination. Q: My mother is 53 years old and complains all day long about phlegm in her throat, and she can’t swallow it or spit it out, like there is something stuck in her throat, and she has taken a lot of medication on her own but it doesn’t work. A: Your mother’s symptoms are very much in line with the characteristics of laryngitis, which is very common in outpatient clinics: she often feels like a blockage in her throat, but she can’t swallow it and can’t spit it out. At the same time, your mother is at the age of menopause and is prone to mood swings, so her self-conscious and severe discomfort often does not match the “no special” clinical examination results. Therefore, it is recommended that your mother should not only go to the doctor for detailed examination and treatment, but also face the disease correctly, make moderate self-regulation and strengthen communication with her family so as to relieve the tension and anxiety to achieve the purpose of relieving the throat discomfort. Q: I have been suffering from laryngitis for many years, many drugs have not helped, recently I saw some small advertisements saying that a “new technology” surgery of the throat can cure laryngitis, is this true? A: Laryngitis, like common diseases such as the “cold”, has frequent and recurring characteristics. There is no special treatment, so there is no special technology to cure this disease. In addition, recurrent attacks of laryngitis often cause lymphatic tissue hyperplasia at the base of the tongue and throat wall, which are normal disease reactions and generally do not require surgical removal. Small advertisements often misrepresent diseases that are not easily curable. To avoid unnecessary surgical pain and monetary loss, please go to a regular hospital. Q: In the past two days, my throat has been swollen and painful, and I have a high fever, I can’t eat, and even drinking water is difficult, when I arrived at the hospital, the doctor said I have an acute inflammation of the throat, and I have to be given a suspension, and I was told to pay attention to breathing at all times, once there is poor breathing will be life-threatening, is it really that serious? A: Laryngitis is often clinically divided into two categories: acute and chronic. Acute pharyngitis is a strong inflammatory response to harmful substances in the external environment (such as harmful chemical gases) and pathogenic microorganisms (such as bacteria, viruses, etc.) that attack the body, with clinical features such as “redness, swelling, heat and pain”. After selective use of anti-inflammatory drugs, the disease usually improves after 5-7 days. Among the acute inflammatory diseases, some acute diseases such as acute epiglottitis, peri-tonsillitis, and lateral pharyngeal infection often cause different degrees of dysphagia and respiratory difficulties, which can cause life-threatening asphyxia in severe cases. Please do not take it lightly and go to the hospital for regular treatment in a timely manner. Q: My uncle is 65 years old and usually likes to smoke and drink. He usually has a foreign body discomfort in his throat all the time, and he always thinks that laryngitis is a minor problem that doesn’t bother him, but recently his voice has become hoarse and sometimes he coughs with blood in his sputum, so he is very worried. A: Many malignant tumors of the throat, such as laryngeal cancer, have many similar characteristics to laryngitis in their early symptoms. If you have bad habits such as smoking and alcohol, the chance of occurrence of laryngeal tumors will be greatly increased. Therefore, if your uncle has symptoms such as hoarseness and blood in sputum, he should not be careless and should go to the hospital for examination in time to exclude the bad lesions in the throat. Here, we should also remind other people who have bad habits such as smoking and drinking that the occurrence of malignant tumors in the throat is related to certain life hobbies, so please stay away from smoking and drinking for the health of life.