10 Best Natural Remedies for Soothing a Sore Throat

Preserved salted lemons for sore throat

A Chinese friend introduced me to this cure for sore throat. It doesn't taste great, but works faster than anything I've ever taken. You fill a jar with lemons (organic), cover with rock salt (I prefer pink Himalayan) and let them rot. The salt draws the juice from the lemon, she advised taking a teaspoon in a cup of hot water. I add raw local honey. The lemons mold as they rot, so persons sensitive to mold-based products like penicillin may wish to avoid this. I've read online that you can also use limes & kumquats and that this concoction can still be used a decade later. That has also been my experience.

I was having a problem with a sore, red and painful throat. I tried cayenne, a strong colloidal silver spray and salt. I used these separately and jointly. I used them through gargling and with a neti pot. They helped for a part of a day, then I would feel that pain again. This is what worked for me: 2 bunches of green onions tossed into a blender with just enough water to get a pudding consistency. I would "gargle" with this 3 times a day. That means I would kind of pour it in the back of my throat, make some gargling sounds and then spit it out. It worked when all else failed. Onions are known for being antibacterial and green onions seem to be the most potent.

I use this method all the time but I stretch my tongue side to side instead. As a child I was told to do this by an ENT specialist. It helps with tense muscles in the neck as well.

I had a sore throat for three days. Each day, it was getting worse. I went to work, felt like I got run over by a truck. My sinuses were a mess and my throat hurt so bad, it was hard to swallow. I had brought my lunch to work and I had packed pickles. (had it in a container where I could keep some juice with the pickles). As I ate the pickle, I realized almost immediately something was changing in my throat. It was feeling better. I decided to drink the juice in the container with a spoon, and it worked! Sore throat was totally gone, and it opened up my nasal passages. I am a FIRM believer in this remedy. I experienced it myself!!

I tried the Apple Cider Vinegar with honey and water. I gargled it twice and rinsed with water. It was all I could stand, but I believe it did help. I almost certain I have strep throat. My ears have bothered me more than anything. My throat is red, grey and white. Afterward, it wasn't grey. I am about to do the same with pure lemon juice. I know it is effect in cleansing the body of in bacteria.

After two days of using raw minced garlic and honey and the cayenne pepper and Apple Cider Vinegar remedy, I tried the castor oil pack. It worked amazingly well. Glands are still swollen but my throat feels so much better.

That did not work at all!

For a sore throat, I have often used a vinegar and water compress pinned around my neck and covered carefully with dry towel, left on all night. Since the body is known to be electric, it is obvious that the acid in the vinegar could assist with re-establishing normality.

My mom has always sworn by oil of oregano, but just recently did she convince me to try it. I have taken it the past 4 times I have had the hint of a sore throat, and it completely eliminated it! I had a sore throat yesterday, and put 3 drops in a small amount of water... I would say within an hour, my sore throat was gone and today I feel 100%! I am not sure how well it would work on a sore throat after a few days, as I have always knocked them out at the first sign. This stuff is amazing! It has a strong taste, but not awful, and it may burn a bit going down. You can chase it with a glass of cool water.

You must know something about honey. It is extremely healthy, but loses it all if you heat it to the temperature higher than 40 C (103 F). After that you have only sugar, which is harmful. So: STOP NUKING YOUR FOOD!

Managed to cure my sore throat in a very short time by buying a medium sized jar of pickled onions in sweet vinegar, chewing slowly and drinking small amounts of the vinegar with each swallow. May slightly aggravate stomach ulcer sufferers but also helps ease those with symptoms of gaseous Irritable Bowel Syndrome. This remedy is not as damaging to the throat lining as gargling salt in my opinion - and decidedly a more pleasant experience. Also took an occasional combination of a dissolved aspirin and 2 Ibuprofen - no more than 4 times in 24hrs. Seems to ease pain and improve blood circulation for antibody attack on infection. Seriously cured my sore throat within 2 days. The occasional teaspoon of honey swallowed slowly at the back of the throat also helps. Recommended.

Orange juice contains a ton of sugar. Sugar is mucus forming and competes with vitamin C at the same receptor site on the cell. I'd advice to steer clear of all juices. Despite how pure fruit juice is, it contains a lot of fruit sugars. Any vitamin C in orange juice is added as ascorbic acid usually because pasteurization kills the natural occurring vitamin C.

I am in a play and dress rehearsal is tonight! I woke with a sore throat yesterday, hoping rest would take it away... Still here this morning. Went online and found the mixture of 1/2 tsp of each: cayenne, salt, lemon juice in 1/2 cup of water. WOW. First gargle took the sore throat away! Will repeat today until this evening. I did swallow the second gargle and tolerated it well.

When we are kids we gargle with anything, but as u get older u get boring & forget!

Had severe sore throat for couple days now from blocked/runny sinuses. Decided to do the salt water gargle, started with small mouthfuls first then built my way up!! Plus kitchen towel on hand. After first cup I coughed up (sorry) lots of phlegm, did a second cup & feel much better.

Also had lemon juice (from bottle in fridge), honey & hot water as a "chaser". Have filled up my gardening flask & going to sip it tucked up in bed. Will repeat later & see how it goes. Anything's worth a try & cheaper than meds, plus the old ones are the best ;-)

I tried the Cayanne /ACV/ garlic/broth mix and only substituted hymalayan salt for soy sauce, and it hardly touched my sore throat. The warmth and spice cleared up my nose, and felt pretty good, but it was not the miracle cure I was told it was. Maybe it's just because I have the worst sore throat of my life, that kept me up the entire night... But still. (Don't get your hopes too high. ) On the plus side, it's really pretty good. I had fresh broth, and boiled the garlic just a bit, and it was a very nourishing and tasty soup.

After I do my cayenne shots, I eat an apple. Gets rid of the burn right away, and it keeps the doctor away:)

Love the Tomato Tea for colds and sore throat! It totally cured my terrible sore throat, and my husband said it really helped him too. Just getting over a cold and this has helped me feel much better very quickly, and could actually sleep thru the night for a change. Thank you so much!

Since I was a child we would gargle warm water with salt to get rid of sore throats. It works wonders. Use 1 tsp of salt for 8 oz of water. Do this every 4 to 6 hours and sore throat should be gone within 24 hours.

So I've been been sick since Christmas... only to end up with bronchitis. And along with that comes the nasty sore throat. I decided to try the vinegar "drink"... I've gotta say it really eased the painful swallowing. Followed by a chloraseptic drop... I might get a decent nights sleep. Thank you so much!

I am so grateful I went to your site! I mixed about 1/2 tsp red cayenne pepper powder with a Tbsp apple cider vinegar, 1/2 cup warm water and about 1/2 tsp salt. I too was worried about teh cayenne buring my mouth, since this had happened to me years before, but it did nto happen this time. (Perhaps the salt neutralized it?) Anyhow, aftert the first 2-3 gargles I saw about 50% improvement in the pain. This convinced me to continue and now I have some hpe I will banish this miserable sore throat before I must return to work (tomorrow! )

Also, I brewed some tea with ginger, lemon, honey and Earl Grey and this is helping too. Let me add that this is by far the NASTIEST sore throat I have ever had---the phlegm has like, CHUNKS of greening yellow stuff in it. Eeeew! But I did obtain some relief and will definitely re-gargle shortly with the same mixture.

Milk should be avoided during a time of illness but the post about how it makes the heat worse is absolutely untrue. There are proteins in milk that bond to the capsacin sp? molecules in peppers, which are the heat of the peppers, and get washed away.

Sage tea works every time for a sore throat. Add a teaspoon of dried sage to a cup of boiling water, cover and leave for 5-10 minutes, then drink slowly.

I have had a cold off and on for a month! Thank you mono. This tea worked really well and really fast. It is really strong.... but it is totally worth it! So, far I have had 3 teaspoons full and my sore throat is gone.

Story: I am 13 years old, and its the day before Christmas eve. And I was sick the day before (Now just a sore throat)

First I gargled salt water (1 tsp/8oz) 3 times, every 10 mins. Cooked up some lemon-herb tea (Excessive honey). Then I found some leftover pasta and sauce from dinner, so I warmed that up, put alot of black pepper in it, and ate it... For the last part (Not necessary) Drank a sip of Soy-Egg-Nog to make my throat feel better before bed.

Morning results: Even worse...

Want to know why cayenne relieves a sore throat? It's the capsaicin. You can make an ointment or liniment our of cayenne and make your own headache reliever. The capsaicin acts much like Cepacol in the sense that it essentially becomes a "local anesthetic". This is why you will get relief but have to do it several times for it to "stick". I love cayenne. It's a great immune booster, it works great on heartburn, it tastes amazing on food, if you make an ointment or liniment it makes an amazing headache/migraine reliever. I've been using cayenne probably longer than this site has been around. That being said, I just tried the cayenne pepper gargle since it's Christmas Eve and a few days ago my husband was kind enough to share his germs and now I have a sore throat. I also added a little bit of salt just for good measure. Let me say that, having had to drink valerian root tea, which literally tastes like dirt, this concoction is absolutely the most foul, vile tasting thing I have ever experienced. The sore throat is still present but it is not as bad. I can now swallow and it's basically just that "scratchy" throat feeling you get when a cold is beginning to creep up on you or when you have some annoying, allergy related sinus drainage down the back of your throat. So I think I am going to say this method, though it's absolutely disgusting, works really well because this sore throat got into my subconscious and into my dreams before waking me up after a mere 4. 5 hours of sleep.

A tip to all that do this: ONLY USE 1/8 OF A TEASPOON! I think that may be why it tasted so horrible. I used about 1/2 a teaspoon, not realizing it. Also, I would recommend probably 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon of salt. It's still going to taste absolutely disgusting but I think it won't be as "strong" of a taste while still working just as well. To get rid of the scratchy feeling, if you're still left with that afterward, I recommend simply gargling with regular salt water and a cup of warm, herbal tea.

Thought I'd share this adult remedy that I've used for 20 years. If you've got a sore throat coming on....... Gargle with Brandy 3 or 4 times in one night (not cheap supermarket brand stuff because I've tried that and it doesn't work). The next day your throat will be gone.

Turmeric powder! Its a miracle worker! Gargle some of this in warm water a couple times and bam! Your sore throat is gone! I swear! Old Indian secret taught to me by a friend.

I suffered from recurring sinus infections for the past few years. They would last months. Three weeks ago, I opted to have sinus surgery, a septoplasty, and turbinate reduction. The recovery has been absolutely miserable all around. About a week and a half after the surgery, I woke up with the worst sore throat imaginable. The doctor said I had a throat infection of some sort post-op and put me on Biaxin. Four days on that, and it got worse and worse. Then my doctor switched me to Augmentin. For three days I took that, and nothing helped. I also gargled salt water daily and it didnt help at all.

Last night, I woke up with my throat almost completely swollen shut and inflamed and it felt like I was swallowing glass. I dreaded swallowing and couldn't even manage water. I went to the ER and was there for several hours. The only answer they had was narcotics and to send me home with more narcotics and steroids to reduce swelling. I was in tears because I had no answer for what was wrong, I couldn't just take narcotics to mask the pain and the antibiotics were not working and I had been suffering already for nearly ten excrutiating days. Three doctors and no solution.

I came home and began to research relief for severe sore throats and stumbled across the cayenne pepper recipe on this site. I was intrigued but also nervous it would just exacerbate the pain given my luck lately. After debating for about an hour, I decided I couldn't bear the throat pain another second. I gargled the first time and the most nasty things came out of my throat. I repeated the gargling process for about ten minutes. There was relief but I was skeptical it was just numb from the burning of the hot pepper. About two hours later, my throat was somewhat better so I gargled again. More productive phlegm and dried blood. I gargled a third time this evening and still had productive phlegm come out, however, I have absolutely no more throat pain!!!! To think, this was all it took after almost ten days of needless drugs and misery. The throat still feels a little raw from the "trauma" when I drink any acidic juices, but I am 100% feeling better in the throat region. Now if only there were magic home cures for the sinus surgery recovery - congestion, sinus headaches, swelling, constant post nasal drip.

I'm late; however aloe juice always helps with vomitting. I've had multiple success with multiple people. Honey and Ginger tea excellent as well. If you're still vomitting now being 2days later (can be something severe) read up on iodine in the above in remedy tab. Hope this helps for future reference.

Why are you suppose to avoid dairy? My throat has been hurting but I drink one of those instant breakfasts that mix with milk. Should I lay off the milk until I'm better then?

well I have a really sore throat that I had for three weeks now. And gone throught 4 packs of [cough drops] in one day, and still dont help me. Its so hard for me to talk, I cant sing, yell, and I can bariley breath half the time.