Also called: Pharyngeal disorders
Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.
About Throat Disorders
Your throat is a tube that carries food to your esophagus and air to your windpipe and larynx. The technical name for your throat is the pharynx.
Throat problems are common. You've probably had a sore throat. The cause is usually a viral infection, but other causes include allergies, infection with strep bacteria or the leaking of stomach acids back up into the esophagus, called GERD.
Other problems that affect the throat include:
- Tonsillitis - inflammation of the tonsils
- Cancer
- Croup - inflammation, usually in small children, which causes a barking cough
- Laryngitis - swelling of the voice box, which can cause a hoarse voice or loss of voice
Most throat problems are minor and go away on their own. Treatments, when needed, depend on the problem.
It sits within Lungs and Breathing and Ear, Nose and Throat.
The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.
Research on Throat Disorders
2,520 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.
What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.
Research currently under way
- Optimizing Dysphagia Treatment Delivery in Acute Care: A Hybrid Efficacy Implementation TrialVanderbilt University Medical Center
- Testing Immunotherapy Versus Observation in Patients With HPV Throat CancerNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- A Study of Toripalimab in Combination With Cisplatin and Gemcitabine in Participants With Recurrent Metastatic Nasopharyngeal CancerCoherus Oncology, Inc.
- Standardizing Swallow Pressure MeasurementsUniversity of Wisconsin, Madison
- Gene Therapy Follow up Protocol for Subjects Previously Enrolled in NCI Center for Immuno-Oncology StudiesNational Cancer Institute (NCI)
- The Esophageal String Test as a Diagnostic Screening Tool for Eosinophilic Esophagitis Among Africans With Dysphagia in Mali and the United StatesNational Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID)
Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.
Where to read more
Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.
Start Here
- ThroatAmerican Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery
Symptoms
- Neck Swelling (Symptom Checker)American Academy of Family Physicians
- Throat Problems (Symptom Checker)American Academy of Family Physicians
Diagnosis and Tests
- Barium SwallowNational Library of Medicine
- Strep A TestNational Library of Medicine
- Strep Test: Throat Culture (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
- X-Ray Exam: Neck (For Parents)Nemours Foundation
Treatments and Therapies
- Mouth Dryness or Thick SalivaAmerican Cancer Society
Related Issues
- Candidiasis BasicsCenters for Disease Control and Prevention
- Post-Nasal DripAmerican Academy of Otolaryngology--Head and Neck Surgery
- Recurrent Respiratory Papillomatosis or Laryngeal PapillomatosisNational Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Clinical Trials
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Laryngeal DiseasesNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: LaryngitisNational Institutes of Health
- ClinicalTrials.gov: Pharyngeal DiseasesNational Institutes of Health
Medical subject headings
Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Pharyngeal Diseases. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.
This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Throat Disorders, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.