When a sore throat is symptomatic of an upper respiratory tract infection, you may also experience a fever, runny nose, coughing, sneezing or an aching body.

The soreness of your throat may differ depending on your illness. You may experience pain while swallowing, have red, swollen tonsils or a muffled, hoarse voice.

When not caused by a cold or flu, you may experience no other symptoms apart from a sore throat.

Recurrent sore throats can be indicative that a previous infection was never resolved. It may also mean you have insufficient levels of important nutrients, such as vitamin D.

Chronic sore throats can be caused by acid reflux, or a thyroid imbalance

Air pollution (which is rampant in Hong Kong) is another key cause of sore throats.

You may find you're more susceptible to a sore throat during Hong Kong's humid months and in the lead up to Chinese New Year.

Newcomers are particularly sensitive to irritants in the air like mould, dust and pollen. Strep throat, another culprit for sore throats, is an upper respiratory tract infection which is encouraged by certain environments.

Our naturopaths can assess your sore throat. They may follow up your assessment with testing to confirm the root cause. These may take the form of a blood test, a throat swab or nutrient deficiency test.

Our naturopaths can advise on how to protect yourself from high levels of pollution to relieve symptoms and boost your immunity if caused by colds or flu.

If testing confirms a nutritional imbalance, our naturopaths can recommend the right supplements for a strong nutritional baseline and better immune function.

Homeopathy, naturopathy and TCM all use botanical and herbal medicine to tackle an acute sore throat and ease your symptoms.

We may recommend complementary therapies like acupuncture, to manage acute symptoms.