Possible Conditions

Throat Pain with Swallowing

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Throat pain with swallowing can have several causes. Best practice recommends that patients with pain with swallowing see or consult with their physician.

Some of the causes are listed below.

• Viral or bacterial pharyngitis (infection of the throat or pharynx); e.g., streptococcal pharyngitis or "strep-throat"
• Viral or bacterial tonsillitis (infection of tonsils)
• Tonsillo-pharyngitis (infection of both tonsils and throat area)
• Uvulitis (infection of the uvula or "hanging bell" in the throat
• Trauma or injury to throat and/or voice box and/or muscles in the neck
• Oral mucositis (inflammation of the oral mucosa that may arise as a side-effect of radiation treatment or chemotherapy for cancer)
• Possible side effect of radiation therapy for cancer in the nose, neck, throat area (radiation targets cancerous cells, but may also affect surrounding normal cells)
• Possible side effect of transesophageal echocardiogram (special procedure to visualize the heart through an ultrasound tube placed in the esophagus or food pipe)
• Spontaneous pneumomediastinum (air in mediastinum or middle compartment of chest with unknown cause)
• Retropharyngeal tendinitis or inflammation of a neck muscle tendon that lies in front of the vertebral column (longus colli muscle tendon)

(For more information, see Voice Disorders or search for related articles at PubMed at the NLM.)

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