Strep Throat Treatment and Symptoms - Legacy ER

Do you have an itchy throat? It can be more than an irritation. Strep throat is a type of sore throat caused by group A Streptococcus bacterium. While it can affect people of all ages, children between the ages of five and 15 are the most susceptible to the disease.

How Do You Get Strep Throat?

Your throat can get infected by bacteria if your eyes, nose, or mouth are exposed. The most common way this happens is when someone infected coughs or sneezes in your vicinity, and it travels to you. Sharing food and utensils is another way for bacteria to spread from one person to another.

The group A strep bacteria can contaminate inanimate objects, making high-touch objects a highway to spread germs. Doorknobs, faucets, and handrails are good examples of this. An infected person can leave these bacteria on such items. When you touch them, you can get infected.

Children often put things in their mouths out of curiosity or when teething. That is a fast way to get infected with strep throat.

Common Symptoms of Strep Throat

Depending on the severity of the infection, you can experience different symptoms of strep throat. Itchiness and scratchiness are the most common characteristics of the condition. Other symptoms to watch out for include:

• A sudden fever of more than 100 degrees
• Chills
• The throat turning red due to soreness, coupled with white patches
• Headache
• Loss of appetite
• Difficulty in swallowing anything, including liquids

You can also experience nausea, vomiting, and stomach problems in more severe cases.

Strep Throat Treatment

Antibiotics are the most common strep throat treatment because it is a bacterial infection. Your doctor will examine your condition to determine the appropriate antibiotic to prescribe.

The CDC recommends eight different antibiotics:

• Intramuscular Penicillin
• Oral Penicillin
• Oral Amoxicillin
• Oral Cephalexin
• Oral Clarithromycin
• Oral Cefadroxil
• Oral Azithromycin
• Oral Clindamycin

Amoxicillin and Penicillin are the most common antibiotics used for strep throat treatment. Doctors change this based on allergic reactions or other factors. The choice of antibiotic can also depend on the location of the patient.

Additionally, you can follow a few home remedy techniques for strep throat treatment and help relieve some of the symptoms. That includes:

• Getting lots of rest to allow the body to fight off the infection
• Drinking lots of fluids, particularly tea or lemon water
• Drinking cold beverages to relieve soreness
• Using a cool-mist humidifier in your room
• Eating soft foods, like yogurt
• Taking over-the-counter pain relievers

How to Prevent Strep Throat

There is no available vaccine for strep throat prevention. Instead, the best way is to constantly wash your hands to avoid infection, especially in public areas. If soap and water are unavailable, you can use a hand sanitizer or spray bottle of alcohol. It is best to bring these essentials with you whenever you go out.

Avoid sharing food and utensils with others. If you have strep throat, always cover your nose and mouth when coughing and sneezing. Wearing a mask can help protect those around you as well.

When to Visit Legacy ER & Urgent Care for Strep Throat Treatments

Visiting your doctor is the first step in beating strep throat. While your body can eventually fight off the infection, the antibiotics provided by your physician will considerably help the process. Not getting the proper strep throat treatment can lead to more severe symptoms such as:

• Sore throat accompanied by a rash
• Tender and swollen lymph nodes
• Difficulty breathing and swallowing
• No improvements after 48 hours of strep throat treatment

Legacy ER & Urgent Care is here to meet your medical care needs by providing affordable pricing and quality care. As part of Intuitive Health’s innovative hybrid model ER and urgent care system, patients are only billed for the level of care they receive from professional and highly trained medical staff. With six facilities located in the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex, emergent and non-emergent care are accessible and transparent, focusing on superb customer service.

Legacy ER & Urgent Care has six convenient locations in the DFW area:

• Allen – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 1310 W. Exchange Pkwy Allen, TX 75013, and may be reached at 972-526-5819.
• Coppell – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 330 S Denton Tap Rd Coppell, TX 75019 and may be reached at 469-702-9917.
• Frisco East – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 16151 Eldorado Pkwy Frisco, TX 75035 and may be reached at 972-526-7009.
• Frisco West – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 9205 Legacy Dr. Frisco, TX 75033, and may be reached at 972-526-7020.
• McKinney – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 2810 Hardin Blvd McKinney, TX 75072 and may be reached at 972-573-6688.
• North Richland Hills – Legacy ER & Urgent Care is located at 8950 N. Tarrant Pkwy North Richland Hills, TX 76182, and may be reached at 817-663-1247