Sometimes in winter you may get a scratchy feeling in your throat just after waking up in the morning, which feels quite unpleasant. Founding chairman Lou Chung-liang of the Taiwan Traditional Chinese Medicine Preventive Health Association shared a post on his Facebook page in which he says that a sore throat is a common symptom in cold weather and it may be caused by any of the following three conditions:
First: chronic pharyngitis
You are probably in this category if it gets better after brushing your teeth, rinsing your mouth and drinking a sip of water. It can be caused by cold weather and relatively dry air, plus the fact that your mouth does not secrete enough saliva while you are asleep. You can use a humidifier while sleeping to help make the air more humid.
Image from the Internet 圖片摘自網路
Second: allergic rhinitis (hay fever)
Allergies tend to involve a persistent stuffy and runny nose plus sneezing that lasts for more than two weeks. You might have a sore throat when you get up in the morning, but it only lasts for a few hours. This is because when you have a blocked nose you can only breathe through your mouth. If this exposes your throat to too much cold or dirty air, it can give you a sore throat. It will improve after drinking some water to soothe and clear your throat. Lou recommends getting a reasonable amount of regular exercise and avoiding ice-cold, deep-fried and sweet foods. He recommends drinking chicken soup, or else boiling up a soup with ginseng and dates and sipping it to strengthen the mucous membranes in your nose.
Third: having a cold
Image from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Web site 圖片摘自美國疾病管制暨預防中心網站
If a sore throat is accompanied by symptoms such as fever or lethargy, you may have caught a cold. Reduced saliva secretion during sleep can cause the mucous membranes in your nose or throat to become dry, which makes them less resistant to viruses. Viruses can stick to the dry mucous membranes while you are asleep and give you a cold. When you get up, make sure to keep warm and put on an extra layer of clothing before getting out of bed. You can also prevent colds by gargling daily with green tea.
For people who often overwork their throat or want to prevent a sore throat before it happens, Lou says you can prepare 10 grams each of dried lily petals, honeysuckle and platycodon (Chinese bellflower or balloon flower), and boil them in 600 milliliters to 1 liter of water or steep them in 100°C hot water and drink it in place of plain water to keep you throat healthy or relieve a sore throat.
(Liberty Times, translated by Julian Clegg)
冬天有時候早上剛起床時，容易喉嚨卡卡的不太舒服。台灣中醫預防保健協會創會理事長樓中亮在臉書粉專「樓中亮中醫博士」發文分享，喉嚨痛是天冷常見的症狀之一，可能是以下三種情況造成：
第一：慢性咽喉炎
如果刷牙漱口後，喝口水就好了，多半屬此類。由於天氣冷，空氣比較乾燥，加上睡覺時唾液分泌不足，就會造成這樣的情況。可以在睡覺時使用加濕器，幫助增加空氣濕度。
第二：過敏性鼻炎（花粉熱）
過敏通常會一直鼻塞、流鼻涕，加上持續超過兩個星期以上的噴嚏，早上起床會喉嚨痛，但只持續幾小時。這是因為鼻塞只能用嘴巴呼吸，喉嚨接觸到太多的冷空氣或髒空氣，而導致喉嚨痛，喝水潤喉、清潔之後就會改善。樓中亮建議，平時應適量運動，避免吃冰涼、油炸物及甜食，可喝雞湯或人蔘加大棗煮來喝，以強化鼻黏膜。
第三：感冒
若除了喉嚨痛外，還伴有身體發熱或倦怠等症狀，那可能就是感冒了。由於睡覺的時候唾液分泌也會變少，當鼻腔或喉嚨的黏膜變乾後，對病毒的抵抗力下降，病毒就會在睡眠期間沾黏在乾燥的黏膜上，導致感冒。起床時要注意保暖添件外套再下床，平日可用綠茶漱口預防感冒。
針對平時會過度使用咽喉或想要及早預防喉嚨痛的民眾，樓中亮表示，可準備乾百合、金銀花、桔梗各十克，用六百毫升到一公升的水煮開，或用攝氏一百度的熱水沖泡，當開水喝，來保養或緩解喉嚨痛。
（自由時報）
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