The comments below reflect the personal experiences and opinions of readers and do not represent medical advice or the views of this website. The information shared has not been evaluated by the FDA and is not intended to diagnose, treat, or prevent any disease or health condition. Always consult a qualified healthcare professional for medical concerns.
Turmeric
Posted by Charlie (Jacksonville, Fl) on 12/13/2012
★★★★★
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.
Cayenne Pepper Recipes
Posted by Jane (Auburn Hills, Michigan ) on 12/10/2012
★★★★★
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.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by P (Middle Of, Fl) on 12/07/2012
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.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by Donnie (Chicago, Illinois) on 12/05/2012
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?
Hot Sauce
Posted by Patrick (Prince Albert, Saskatchewan) on 12/03/2012
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.
Iodine
Posted by Mundaring (Perth, Western Australia) on 11/10/2012
★★★★★
Over the past 6 months since discovering Earth Clinic I have revised how I deal with health issues. Waking up with a sore throat I would generally have tried an OTC remedy. I decided to gargle a few drops of iodine in a teaspoon of filtered water. I thank God it worked within 30 minutes to alleviate my pain. VOILA!
Cayenne Tips
Posted by M.akram (Abbottabad, Pakistan) on 10/29/2012
Thanks very much for this post. I have been looking for something like this desperately. Thanks very much for sharing this piece of information.
Mouthwash
Posted by Inka (Narnia, Neverneverland) on 09/23/2012
★★★★★
This is a definite yea. As soon as I tried it, my throat began feeling better.
Mouthwash
Posted by Katy (Brighton, England) on 09/23/2012
★★★★★
Wow. I tried this and felt fine almost instantly! I did things a little different though, I watered down some mouthwash and swallowed that and it worked just as well! Thank you!
Vinegar
Posted by Abby (Birmingham, England) on 09/12/2012
i tried the vinegar it didn't completely cure it but when I wake up usually my throat is so painful I can't talk. I tried the vinegar and oh my god it relieved the pain so much. I used just normal vinegar it worked better then my cyder vinegar.
Coconut Oil
Posted by Pam (Chicago, Ill.) on 09/02/2012
Can you be more specific how to use.
Black Pepper
Posted by Mary (Toronto, Canada) on 07/10/2012
★★★★★
I read a lot of feedback about the benefits of cayenne pepper for sore throat on this website and I'm happy to say I tried gargle couple of times a day with black pepper instead, and for my surprise it works as well. It took me about one day for sore throat and 3 for tonsils, no need for antibiotics or other medication.
Mouthwash
Posted by Kaylah (Winnipeg, Manitoba) on 07/04/2012
★★★★★
THANK YOU!!! Im 13 and in gymnastics! And whenever I got to do a flip my throat kills me! :( but then I looked up sore throat remedies and I got mouthwash! I tried it and voila!! I can swallow! Thank you so much for this remedie!!
Iodine
Posted by Sarah (Dallas, Tx) on 07/02/2012
★★★★★
I have tonsillitis with tonsil exulates (could be strep, but the pain isn't severe enough, though I have been taking wild oregano oil internally that would have been fighting the infection).
My throat was really hurting to swallow, and I had mucus sitting at the back of my throat that I couldn't get rid of (I don't have a cold, cough and bad allergies right now). It made my mouth taste awful. I read that applying iodine to your wrists and also gargling with a diluted solution can help. I did it last night, and not only did I wake up with my throat much less sore, but the feeling of mucus at the back is nearly entirely gone as well as the bad taste. I used Nascent Iodine, but I believe Lugol's can be used as well.
Oregano Oil, Tamari Soy Sauce
Posted by Jo-jo74 (Philadelphia, Pa) on 06/30/2012
★★★★★
Oregano is a good option for sore throats. However, it's important to dilute it with something other than water, like honey or coconut oil. This way, there is less chance of throat irritation. (Oregano oil is strong! )
Option #2- Tamari soy sauce worked well as a gargle as an alternative to ACV or pickle juice.
Tonic Water
Posted by Joshua (Dubai, Uae) on 06/20/2012
★★★★★
Go into any good store an buy some tonic water (the yellow label) and make sure it says with quinine at the bottom. Drink this and when you throat feels painful and it will ease the pain instantly. Drink whenever pain returns.
Carrot Juice
Posted by V (Poughkeepsie, New York) on 06/08/2012
One note on this, you can avoid all that by just chewing fresh well washed and skinned carrots til they give you all the juice, then eating the pulp is up to you, I say why not but in this case you could always put half in the compost pile.
Cayenne, Salt, Lemon
Posted by Carl (Hoquiam, Wa) on 06/06/2012
★★★★★
Barely been able to eat for 2 days. Swallowing is torture, I wince everytime. I mixed 1tsp cayenne, 1tsp salt, 1tsp lemon in a cup of water. Gargled for a couple of minutes, then I spit out the concoction but swallowed what was left in my mouth. Took a couple of minutes but it feels literally 100% better. Thanx ya'll
I still continued the treatment for a couple of hours. Yeah I can eat!!!!
Vitamin C
Posted by Lim (Singapore) on 05/26/2012
★★★★★
The simple cure that worked for me is as follows:- Just break up a Vitamin C tablet into smaller pieces and put one small piece on the tongue. Slowly suck it like a sweet. You will feel relief. Repeat that periodically when necessary. After a few times, your throat would not be painful anymore.
Tongue Stretch
Posted by Macy (Yakima, Wa) on 05/11/2012
★★★★★
Actually worked, really well. I can swallow now! So weird
Manuka Honey
Posted by Spaingirl (Toronto, Canada) on 05/09/2012
★★★★★
I had a sore throat for just over 3 weeks. It wasn't strep but it sure was annoying.... Just wasn't going away and getting worse. I went to the doctor and she said I can't prescribe anything because it's not strep (thank goodness cause I HATE antibiotics). Now what? I'm sick and tired of this pain!
I came across a post that mentioned trying Manuka honey gargle. Here's what I did. I heated up 1/2 cup water (just warm) and stirred in a teaspoon of good quality Manuka Honey along with 1 drop of oregano oil(mix it up). I gargled several times a day for 3 days and lo and behold my Sore throat was finally gone! Miracle! I love this site and I love these remedies. Reminds me of the good old natural cures my mom from Spain used to use on us as kids.
Hot Tea
Posted by Savannah (Lancaster, California) on 05/04/2012
Thank you for your hep. I am a singer battling a sore throat and this really helped!
Tongue Stretch
Posted by Ruby (Omaha, Ne) on 04/24/2012
★☆☆☆☆
I tried it and it worked for about five seconds.
Mouthwash
Posted by Ryan (Edson, Ab, Canada) on 04/11/2012
When I gargled the mouthwash it didn't really work, but then after I drank a verry little of it my throught started to feel better instantly.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by Ellen (Rochester, Mn) on 04/09/2012
They put glycerine on pacifiers in the hospital to get newborns to take them.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by Ltodd85 (Tampa, Florida) on 04/09/2012
I tried the Cayenne, sea salt with warm water and it worked. I had a real sore throat and when I first saw Cayenne I thought wow. Won't that burn? It did not burn at all and my throat was not sore at all about a minute after gargling it. I am glad I came across this website.
Oregano Oil
Posted by Susan (Panama City, Florida) on 04/07/2012
★★★★★
I recently began to have a sore throat and drank three drops of oregano oil in a oz of water three times of day for four days and sore throat went away without me even getting sicker.
Peanut Butter
Posted by Kirky (Toronto, Canada) on 04/06/2012
★★★★★
Oh my god. Just had a bit of peanut butter and it instantly worked! I'll be keeping this jar by my side today~ Haha
Mouthwash
Posted by Renee (Lawrenceville, Georgia, United States) on 03/08/2012
★★★☆☆BETTER BUT WITH SIDE EFFECTS
I was a little hesitant to try this trick because I had never heard of it before. I gave it a try, hoping it would work. After one gargle, it relieved the pain. However, it felt like my throat was on fire (the same sensation you feel when you pour alcohol on a open cut) As for swallowing it, I suggest spitting out the amount you gargled and pouring a little bit into the cup. It will make it easier to swallow just a little bit.
Mouthwash
Posted by Olivia (Yorktown, Virginia, Us) on 03/08/2012
★★★★★
I tried this with some mouthwash at my house and it worked almost instantly! XD
Soup
Posted by Extra Guy! (Honolulu, Hawaii, honolulu ) on 03/08/2012
★★★★★
For a nice way to relieve pain of a sore throught, just have a nice bowl of warm lentil soup! Have some potatoes, lentils(duh), a tiny bit of onions, and voila! You have a tasty soup that helps you! I know this doesn't involve cayenne but it's very helpful too( I've tried cayenne it works! )
Acid Reflux Connection
Posted by Lou (Tyler, Tx) on 03/06/2012
I had horrible pain seemingly in the thyroid and hoarse voice today and the last few days. Hard to breathe and swallow. I used one of Ted's suggestions. I put 5 drops of hydrogen peroxide (3%) in a bottle of water 16.5 oz. (approx. 1/2 liter) and a little bit of borax (1/8 tsp. ) I feel 100% better now. Drink this slowly over 1/2 of the day.
Mouthwash
Posted by 1kennb (Long Island, Ny) on 03/05/2012
★★★★★
A follow up: after only a couple of days of gargling with mouthwash (Equate anticavity) only a few times a day, the sore throat is gone and hasn't come back for two days now. Just sayin'...
Mouthwash
Posted by 1kennb (Long Island, Ny) on 03/03/2012
★★★★★
Acknowledging the fact that it could be bacterial or viral, I needed to try something quick last night and checked out the many suggestions on this site. Not having many of the ingredients to some "cures, " I tried the warm salt water two different times to no avail. I then tried gargling (do NOT swallow! ) Equate (Walmart) "anticavity mouthwash" (active ingredient: sodium fluoride.0221%) before going to bed. Woke up with no pain at all, feeling much better. Used same twice today with very slight soreness persisting when swallowing but much better than it's been. If it gets worse or doesn't go away, will see a doctor this week.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by I Like Green (Ann Arbor, Mi Usa) on 02/19/2012
I thought that glycerine is bad to suck!
Over the Counter
Posted by Trader (Muscle Shoals, Alabama) on 02/03/2012
Simply take a small packet of BC Powder and pour the powder on your tonque. Take about 1/4 glass of either water or tea into your mouth and swish this around until the powder is diluted. Now! Gargle as long as you can getting the mixture around the areas of your throat that is hurting.... then swallow.
In about 3 minutes you will feel the pain lessening... In about 15 minutes it will feel even better.... If the sore throat returns in a few hours repeat the same..... after the second or third time it usually will not come back....
You can think of me later.... go get the powder....
Hand Therapy
Posted by Alexander (Amsterdam, North Holland, The Netherlands) on 01/26/2012
Hand therapy is a form of tissue massage in the areas where the muscles in the neck may become hard due to the soarnness in the throat. If you find the sensitive areas in the neck and massage it softly, pressing gently on the tender muscles, it can help to ease the pain. This also helps reduce tooth ache and many problems - doubtful to be the cure, but sometimes it can be enough to ease the pain in the throat as well in order for the healing process to continue. Just take your time and massage slowly with your hand and fingers to find those little knots or stiffness in the neck. Try it a few times and wait a day in between self treatments.
Hand Therapy
Posted by Syed Waqar (Wroclaw, Wroclaw Poland) on 01/22/2012
★★★★☆
Yea, Hand therapy really worked. Now Pain reduced from 100% to 55%.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by Tracy (Huntsville, Alabama) on 01/19/2012
I make a cayenne Tea. First boil a cup of water. Add 1 TABLESPOON of cayenne and let it steep for 1/2 hour.
Now, boil another cup of water and add 1 TABLESPOON (2 if you are tolerant) of the steeped cayenne to that.
I keep the full strength in the fridge and dilute as above then drink it and/or gargle with it liberally whenever I have a cold, sore throat, or even the chills! Also great for healthy gums!
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Maria (Gippsland, Australia) on 01/12/2012
Hi Francisca, Well your hubby is missing out on a treat! They are full of lots of nutrients and again especially in the skin. Very interesting that they helped your digestion. It will be good when you can eat your own.
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Francisca (Zug, Switzerland) on 01/12/2012
Hi Maria and sorry about the confusion with the fruits... Here kakis are the soft and persimmons the manipulated ones. In Portugal where I come from we call them diospiros, a scientific name for this fruit. I think that most people are not familiar with them! My husband who is Welsh had never heard of them at all and he doesn't wish to try them. Too bad because it is sure that we are going to have them growing in our garden and I tell you, I noticed such a difference in my digestion when I started eating them regularly.... I knew them from my youth as my grandfather had a tree on his farm. Sharon fruit again is the same fruit but means the ones you eat while hard! Many people are put off this fruit because they don't understand that the tannin is a natural part of the unripe fruit! Maybe that was the reason you now have the modern version without any tannin at all! No idea they grew in Australia as here they are picked at the beginning of the winter and eaten around Christmas!
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Maria (Gippsland, Australia) on 01/12/2012
Hi Francisca, Yes I have had the persimmons that are very soft when ripe and yes they are yum. I had never heard the name kakis and had to do an internet search to see which fruit you were talking about as they are all called persimmons here. They are the only ones that are grown locally. Hard to get as they are not grown commercially where I live and there are not many old gardens that have them now. They are not a common fruit here in Oz and some have not even tried them.
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Mmsg (Somewhere, Europe) on 01/11/2012
Yes Francisca! Where I live we have both but, like you said, once you taste a REAL ripe kaki, you can never eat the other ones. We try to take full advantage of their very short season, then dream about their heavenly taste till next year!!!
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Francisca (Zug, Switzerland) on 01/11/2012
Maria, as far as I understand the persimmons are actually genetically manipulated kakis. I think that because people hated the tannin when the kakis aren't very ripe they decided to create something that can be eaten while not very ripe. The original kakis can only be eaten when very ripe and soft and if you have eaten those you won't eat the persimmon again! I have done a lot of research because we will be moving to our new home in the countryside soon and we are working with a local gardener who is doing our garden so I wanted to be able to tell him which fruit trees we want exactly!
Sharon fruit and persimmon seem to be the same fruit. I kept a few persimmons in my warm living room for a few weeks and they never got soft like the real kakis! I tend to distrust all these new manipulated fruit, call me old..... So the gardener now knows which kind of kakis we want! You love the persimmon but have you ever tried the real kakis? Interestingly enough since we arrived here they had a lot of kakis for sale, ready to eat, very soft and I started eating them all day. Since then my digestion was very good. I seemed to be hungry all day something that never happens to me. They are now gone...... The season is short!
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Maria (Gippsland, Australia) on 01/10/2012
Hi Francisca, My understanding of kakis (persimmon) is that the non astringent type, the one you eat crisp, is native to Japan and China, which I love I might add. I know with apples we should be eating the smaller old fashioned ones as the skin to the sweet flesh ratio is best, that is more nutrients via the skin and less sugar with less flesh.
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Francisca (Zug, Switzerland) on 01/07/2012
Lou, I agree with you as far as pineapples goes, at least the real ones! In Europe now you see mostly the ultra-sweet ones which I believe are manipulated to produce always the sweetest pineapples. I try to stay away from those. Actually many fruit we eat now seems to be manipulated to contain more sugar, maybe to cover up the fact that they don't taste like anything anymore! I love kakis and till a little while ago I could find the traditional ones you eat very ripe, which are lovely but now I only find sharon fruit and those too are manipulated. They took away the tannin and they look just like they are made of plastic. I tried them a little while ago and it was almost like eating an apple just it wasn't an apple, very weird and they never seem to ripen.
Even pears nowadays are awfully sweet, too bad because we need the vitamins but not the sugar. When we go and live in our new house we will be growing quite a bit of fruit ourselves! The problem is that you have to stay away from the modern manipulated kinds!
Pineapple Juice
Posted by Lou (Tyler, Tx) on 01/06/2012
★★★★★
I had an aunt who was part Indian and she always heated pineapple juice for whatever ailed us when we were little. Pineapple/pineapple juice contains catalase (which is an important enzyme). It is good for stomach problems and it works in neutralizing H202 in your liver (people with vitiligo have a high level of H202 in their liver). So eat more pineapple!!! I am beginning to think that is what is in pseudocatalase cream.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by Bre (Denver, Co, Usa) on 01/05/2012
I found this a little hot on the tip of my tongue. I used some yogurt just to put on the tip (not swallow) after and my tongue felt better right away! My throat felt better soon after too thanks to the cayenne pepper.
Cayenne Tips
Posted by Leia (Forest Grove, Or) on 12/27/2011
@ Caroline from Alexandria, VA: Actually on the Anti-Inflammation Diets given by Natural Paths they remove all citrus (except lemon/juice: for flavoring food) from the diet; because it's known for causing inflammation through out the body.
Whiskey, Honey, Lemon
Posted by Brittany (Craigsville, West Virginia) on 12/08/2011
Notadoctor- if you're pregnant or breastfeeding you can't use many over the counters.
Acid Reflux Connection
Posted by Mike O (Blackwood, Nj Usa) on 12/07/2011
Orange Peel Extract is the answer. It is all natural not a prescribed pill... D-Lymonene is what I use take it once in the morning and works like a charm! First few times you will burp up oranges but that means it's working. Good Luck
Honey
Posted by Veronica (Norwalk, Ct Usa) on 11/25/2011
★☆☆☆☆
Honey alone DIDN'T work for me. It did absolutely nothing. I tried salt, honey and ACV and those only worked temporarily. The cayenne with a little bit of honey is doing the best job. I'm going to add ACV and gargle for a while.
I've had this sore throat for 3 days now, so I know it won't be cured immediately, but it's doing a great job of making me feel a little better, and not just temporarily.
