Earache With Sore Throat On One Side
  The frequency of cold-associated sneezes and coughs varies enormously from person to person. Some people have an earache with sore throat on one side while others have no symptoms at all. It depends in part on an individual’s normal threshold of irritation. But in the case of coughs, other factors enter in. One, understandably, is the extent to which the individual is exposed to cigarette smoke or other chronic throat irritants. In one study of individuals suffering from rhino virus colds, the daily rate of coughing for male smokers exceeded that of male nonsmokers by more than 3 to 1 on the first day of infection. Coughing by both groups diminished on the fourth day, though the smokers still had slightly the worse of it. Another factor that influences coughing is, for reasons unknown, gender.
Female smokers in the study followed a pattern opposite that of males; they coughed less than male smokers on the first day but were coughing more than twice as much and getting worse by the fourth day. At all times they coughed more than nonsmoking females, and the difference grew as the cold wore on and the propensity to experience an earache with sore throat on one side is much more likely.
Pills generally give longer-lasting action than the topical medications and are seldom associated with rebound effects. Pills do not produce the same high degree of blood vessel constriction and they act more slowly. Absorbed into the body’s entire system, they also excite the nervous system sufficiently to cause insomnia in some persons if taken just before bedtime and to worsen the excess stimulation that afflicts those who have an overactive thyroid gland. Because pills constrict all blood vessels, not just those in the nose, they should be avoided by persons with heart disease and high blood pressure.
Decongestants may also worsen diabetes; they increase the sugar in the blood, intensifying the harm caused by the diabetic’s own bodily malfunction. Anyone on some other course of drug therapy especially persons taking monoamine oxidase inhibitor, often prescribed for depression should consult a physician before taking decongestant pills, which interact with many other drugs. Possibly to alleviate the earache with sore throat on one side is to take prescription pills.
Among the entire array of decongestants, most people find that spray, though slightly more expensive, is more convenient than drops or jelly, and probably more effective than oral types. Spray is also generally preferable for children who are old enough to sniff in the decongestant and blow their noses between applications; for infants and toddlers drops are better, but should be formulated especially for children. Oral decongestants are recommended mainly for adults whose congestion discomfort extends to the chest or who have experienced problems with topical decongestants; their general health must, of course, permit use of these whole-body drugs.
No topical decongestant should be used for more than three to four days and no oral decongestant for more than seven days without a doctor’s recommendation, and even then it should be taken with great care. |
