Severe sore throat out of nowhere? (No cold symptoms)

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I have had an awful sore throat for around 3 days that has meant I have had trouble swallowing much. It has appeared with no other cold symptoms apart from some body aches around my neck and shoulders. I know a sore throat is not the end of the world however it has really got in the way of Christmas as I've been unable to ignore it. Im not sure id be able to get an emergency appointment as it isn't an emergency so wondered if anyone has any idea what could have caused this? Medications don't seem to touch it. Thanks!

Do you smoke, or have you smoked in the past?

No, I've never smoked!

In that case, it's most likely just a virus (the sort of cancers that can be signalled by a sore throat are infinitesimally rare in non-smokers).

If you still have it in four days time, (i.e. after a week), or you begin to feel acutely unwell, I would make a GP appointment at that point. Until a week has gone by, your GP will almost certainly just tell you to wait and see - sore throats are very rarely bacterial, so antibiotics are generally useless, and a GP is highly unlikely to conduct further investigations before you've had it for at least a week.

It could be strep throat (which is bacterial, so if it is, antibiotics would help).

A clear symptom of strep throat is white 'exudates' on your tonsils - do you have someone willing to look down your throat and check?

There's an example picture on this wiki page:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Streptococcal_pharyngitis

Thanks for your replies! It seems to have gone now, very relieved!!