It’s not uncommon to feel pain when swallowing or yawning when you have inflammation in your throat. Let’s look at a few common reasons why you might feel pain in your throat while yawning, as well as treatment options.
Five Reasons Your Throat Hurts While Yawning
- Throat dryness. When your throat is dry, it may feel scratchy, particularly when swallowing, yawning or talking. A dry throat can develop when your membranes don’t make enough mucus. Things that cause throat dryness include allergies, smoking, dehydration and sleeping with your mouth open.
- Viral illnesses. Things like the common cold, flu or COVID-19 can all cause a sore throat. When you yawn, air and saliva may come into contact with inflamed areas of your throat and cause additional pain.
- Strep throat. Strep throat is a common bacterial infection that accounts for roughly 5 to 15% of adult sore throat cases and 20 to 30% in children. If you have strep throat, swallowing can be particularly painful, but yawning can cause further irritation as well.
- Tonsilitis. Your tonsils are lymph nodes in the back of your throat. Tonsillitis occurs when these lymph nodes become infected. The condition usually causes a severe sore throat that causes pain when swallowing and yawning. Tonsillitis can be caused by several viruses or bacteria.
- Injury to the throat. Your throat can suffer small injuries if you accidentally swallow something sharp, like a chip that scratches the back of your throat. When you yawn, food particles and saliva can irritate the injury and cause further soreness.
Can Pain While Yawning Be a Sign of Something More Serious?
For the most part, pain in the throat while yawning is not a sign of a serious condition. In rare cases, this kind of throat pain may be a sign of throat cancer. However, you will also likely have other symptoms, including:
- Persistent throat pain
- Trouble swallowing
- Swollen lymph nodes
- Hoarseness
- Chronic cough
All of these symptoms can also be signs of less serious conditions. However, make an appointment with a doctor if you have any of these symptoms to find the cause.
Treating Throat Pain
Depending on the cause, you may be able to treat your throat pain with at-home or over-the-counter remedies or need to see a medical provider. Specific treatments may include:
- Gargling with salt water
- Drinking warm liquids like tea from Maryville Corner Market
- Using lozenges or over-the-counter pain medication like ibuprofen
- Antibiotics or antifungal medications
To have your symptoms evaluated by one of our experts, call Foothills ENT to schedule an appointment today.