10 Best Natural Remedies for Soothing a Sore Throat

I was rather skeptical about using any of these remedies... I sucked it up and took a glass of hot water with some generic hot sauce and a little honey. After just the first sip my sore throat that has been around for over 2 weeks was much lighter. I will continue to use til it is gone completely. Thank you so much!

Hi, just had to write back again and say that I have been gargling the cayenne pepper/water and it has helped tremendously but I have a better thing for you to do! I did this when I drank my coffee this morning and it is a God-Send ! Just sprinkle some cayenne pepper in your coffee and drink it! It makes the flavor of the coffee WONDERFUL and it is fantastic for your throat! This website is a pure blessing from God. Thank you to all who come here and share their experiences!

Cayenne (don't use if you have low blood pressure) pepper works wonderfully, it's also great to mix with other remedies cause it helps them work faster. Why? It thins your blood and since your body registers the hot effect as fire it gets your heart pumping more blood to rush the endorphins (natural body made morphine) to the mouth area. This creates 2 effects: 1st, you get relaxed due to the anesthesic effect of the endorphins and 2nd, the nutrients that u took with your remedy spread through your body faster, and on top of that it's a natural antibiotic. I use it for sore throats and colds in the following manner:

in glass pour about 2-4oz water (for diluting purposes [gonna try ACV next time]),
1 whole lemon (not those dry lemons we want some juice here),
1-2 Tbsp of honey (natural honey none of those syrup mixed ones) and cayenne (lots of it)

I usually put cayenne till it's red (remember were going for the blood and endorphin rush here). Bottoms up! (this is a shot) There still hasn't been a cold to pass the 3 day mark with this stuff.

Hi, I wanted to quickly comment on some of the 'nay' responses to the cayenne pepper remedy. For those of you who are burning the living you-know-what out of your mouths, try lessening the amount of pepper taken in one dose and take it more often. A few people have mentioned taking lemon juice, maple syrup, and the pepper with water. This is actually a fasting recipe as well (the fast Beyonce was one to lose weight for 'Dream Girls'). The proper measurements are 10oz. distilled water, 2 tablespoons FRESH lemon juice, 2 T. maple syrup (Grade B, and organic is best if you can afford it), and a PINCH of cayenne pepper(about 1/8 teaspoon or even less). The water should be heated before mixing in the ingredients. Try drinking this mixture throughout the day. It takes time but the soreness in your throat will eventually subside. It you drink it throughout the day and eat nothing, you will also start to detox your body and lose some water weight overnight as well, given you have no major health problems. Also, another trick (if you throat has just started hurting)...try mixing 6 to 8 drops of hydrogen peroxide in a large glass of distilled/purified (not spring) water and drinking several times throughout the day. Usually my sore throats start to feel relief with in 15 minutes to half an hour after the first glass. If it's pesky, keep drinking. If you have something bad already, like strep, you may need to just go to the doctor. It may be too late for the peroxide to relieve pain, but it may lessen the the time you are sick. Try an alternative healer, for those of you not wanting to take drugs (and I don't blame you). Also, someone commented, saying that antibiotics was the only cure. Be careful, if you choose to take antibiotics make sure you take a good round of probiotics, for a month at least, afterward. Otherwise you are just killing off the good guys in your gut and setting yourself up for future problems.

Cayenne pepper tea. I read all the comments, yays and nays, and decided to try it. Just started getting a horrible sore throat about 3 hours ago and I HATE getting sick, especially right before the holidays. I decided to pull out the heavy guns and made a hot tea of about 1/4 tsp. ground cayenne, three shots of Tabasco, 3 tbspns maple syrup, and 1 tbspn champagne vinegar (I didn't have any ACV). As I sit here typing I am sipping this spicy brew and the left side of my throat is no longer hurting. The right side is still tender but I think it is getting better. I also have clear sinus passages and I am coughing up lots of clear sticky phlegm. I intend to keep drinking this stuff until I am better. I really think it is working. ---NEW CAYENNE FAN

I came upon your site due to being congested and having the worse sore throat ever. Tried ACV first, and got some relief, but only about an hour's worth. I read all of the posts on cayenne and decided that one was next, but did not have any of the pepper. I remembered that it is in hot sauce, so i mixed up a tea. I boiled some water, and then added a shake or two of ground ginger, a tablespoon of hot sauce, a tsp of oregano, a tablespoon of honey, tablespoon of lemon juice and a green tea teabag. I let it steep for about 5 minutes. What i had was a concoction... "liquid fire" and about 30 minutes after drinking, no sore throat and nasal passages were draining. The next morning i was surprised to still be clear. Thanks for posting this idea.

for those who dont have cayenne pepper. i put together a mix of related ingredients to find it cures sore throats like a dream. jalipeno juice from the jar tip about 1/10 the size of your cup, a decent amount of lemon juice or lime juice.. two teaspoons of sugar and abit of warm water.. it has cured my sore throat in a matter of hours.

I stumbled upon this site a few days ago when I was searching for sore throat remedies. I read about cayenne pepper and decided to use it. I was really skeptical. What I did was made tea with water, ginger root, lemon and honey and then added 1/8th teaspoon to my tea. It burned alot in my throat. However 20 minutes later my pain was gone. It really numbed my throat and I was able to swallow, drink and eat without a problem. Cayenne pepper anesthetizes the pain. I am a true believer of cayenne pepper. I now have used it in my homemade chicken soup. Every time I use it I feel relief. So awesome!

I lost my voice and need to get on a legal call tomorrow - googled and found ceyenne recipe - had homemade chicken soup on the stove - scooped a bowl and put 1/8 tsp. in my bowl. Took one bite, throat on fire, coughed wildly, spit up green junk for a few minutes - went back and ate the whole bowl without even flinching - I can talk now! I am of Italian descent - maybe I can tolerate the pepper better - but it got the bug - I guess I'll be having chicken soup for a midnight snack, breakfast, lunch and dinner tomorrow!! Thanks!!

I tried James' remedy tea first. Let me say, I HATE vinegar, and it was god awful to swallow down. I took about 4 sips, gargling first, then swallowing. My throat has gone from razorblades to feeling just swollen, but thankfully, ABLE TO SWALLOW! I'm not suprised it worked, based on all the reviews. I will suggest that you follow what another post said and mix equal parts honey to apple cider vinegar if you can't stand the taste of vinegar. I don't mind the cayenne, so I still mixed about an 1/8 teaspoon with 2 TBS honey and 2 TBS ACV. I added a bit of hot water (like 1/4 cup) and a dash of lemon juice. I gargled and swallowed this. I think I will continue to do the "shots" as opposed to the tea. BUT IT DOES WORK! I managed to eat a nice chocolate donut (ah comfort food) within 10 minutes. AWESOME!!! I will continue every two hours throughout the day with the shots. I imagine adding some ginger may help, as well.

I'd been getting bouts of horrible throat pain at least once a year for about 6 years and I've tried every kind of throat medicine besides going to the doctor (no med insurance). I recently was woken up by this horrible pain like small knives on the right side of my throat and it was so swollen, it was painful and difficult to swallow. I stumbled onto this website as i was waiting for the ibuprofen to kick in and at first i was pretty skeptical, but reading everyone's testimonies (and the fact that i was desperate) made me go out the next morning to buy all the ingredients. I figured the odds were better if i used as many of the remedies as i could so i made a tea consisting of 1 1/2 cups of distilled water, 1/4 cup of Apple Cider Vinegar, 1/8 teaspoon of cayenne pepper, a tablespoon of lemon juice, 2 tablespoons of honey, a nickle sized piece of fresh ginger root, 2-3 whole cloves (the spice not garlic), and i put in a honey tea bag for flavor. Make sure you heat the water first by itself, then add the ingrediants. This drink was surprisingly tasty and I drank it about 3 times in the day, then i gargled with a cup of water and 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper. My sore throats usually last 2-3 miserable weeks, but imagine my surprise when i wake up the next morning and my sore throat is completely gone!!!!! I was so amazed and I can't even tell you what a lifesaver this remedy is!!!!

I came back to EarthClinic to read about flu and sore throat cures and saw lots of feedback on cayenne pepper for sore throat.

I recently tried cayenne in an ACV drink recipe here that was so disgusting I had to pour the whole thing down the sink. It tasted foul and burned my mouth, so using cayenne for my sore throat was a last resort. But so many people said it was The Cure, so I had to try it. Here's what I did:

I emptied one capsule of cayenne into 3/4 cup of hot water and let it steep for a while like tea. I then drained the mixture through a coffee filter and into a small spray bottle. Then I sprayed the mixture on the back of my throat, gargled a bit, then swallowed. The spray completely bypassed my mouth, so no unnecessary burning. The burning in my throat actually felt kind of soothing and effective. And, what a miracle cure!!! What iodine, h2o2, colloidal silver and salt water could not do in 4 days, CAYENNE PEPPER DID IN 2 HOURS!!! It completely took away the sore throat and I continued to use it periodically for the next several days to ensure the sore throat did not take hold again

I use cayenne pepper too for sore throats, but have found that mixing it in glycerine makes it much easier to take. Take about 2 teaspoons of cayenne pepper (I use red pepper from my spice cabinet) and mix with 1 ounce of glycerine. Let sit together (I let sit for 2 days) then strain, using a coffee filter, into a bottle with a dropper. This method makes the concoction taste almost sweet and works great. Just drip onto sore areas of throat.

Cayenne pepper remedy cured my sore throat. This helped: Cover lips with vaseline before gargling. Keep tongue up by the roof of the mouth when sipping. Finally, keep a cold wet washcloth while gargling, wipe lips (especially inner lips) and tongue with it, it helps. Rinse washcloth every time to remove pepper dust from cloth. Washcloth dipped in icy ice cube water works best. Stinging from pepper subsided within a few minutes.

To remove the burning from your mouth after using cayenne pepper or chilli pepper, take a slice of bread and push it down on your tongue & the roof of your mouth. The pepper grounds stick to the bread and come right off the skin inside of the mouth. You might have to move the bread around to get it all but it stops the burning.