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.
Kathrine (The Colony, Texas) on 04/29/2010:
Nobody will believe me BUT yesterday I read all these comments and decided to try the cayenne pepper. I have had a seriously congested nose & head for a week with a sore throat. Last night I made a big dish of spaghetti with sauce. I sprinkled a load of cayenne peper on it. This morning I was so much better. Honestly!! I feel better! I now have a bit of a cough but it's productive. I had more spaghettie with cayenne for lunch, coughed a lot but am doing much better overall! I had tried all sorts of meds and nothing was touching this.
I had the worst sore throat I'd ever experienced for six days. After trying throat sprays, lozenges of many kinds, tea, hot water, gargling with salt, etc. I had given up and was wondering if I would ever get relief (and some sleep!)
I mixed 1 teaspoon of cayenne with 8 oz. of hot water, put some chapstick on my lips (as others said it would help...and it did) and gargled with the concoction. Like many others I swallowed a bit, because I couldn't get it deep into my throat by gargling. I tried this twice for about 30 seconds each gargle, then waited 15 minutes and gargled again.
I'm not cured, but I feel 90% better. At a minimum, I know I will get some sleep tonight. I will keep gargling and hopefully be better soon!
I had tried the gargling with hot water and cayenne and it didn't work as immediate as I needed.. haha but I did try sprinkling DRY cayenne on the back of my tongue and it worked!!!
Yes it really works I had a sore throat for a couple days and did the gargled with it a couple times and within an hour i felt alot better got to love the home remedies this is a great site everyone should try it for there great remedies
Hello...I just wanted to let you all know that Cayenne Pepper works great! I had a really bad sore throat. It was so bad that it hurt even to swallow my own saliva! I went to the doctor thinking that I would get some relief! I saw the doctor and she told me that it was a viral sore throat and prescribed me a pain killer that I could gargle with. I tried it and it worked, but not well enough to where I was at least able to drink water.
After becoming increasingly irritated that not only was the trip to the doctor a waste of time, but so was the perscription. I started getting desperate for some sort of relief. So I did a google search for "best cure for a viral sore throat", and this site came up as the first result. There were an overwhelming 325 positive responses to this treatment. I figured I am willing to do ANYTHING to get some sort of relief. I went down to the local store and purchased Cayenne pepper for $.79. Got home got a cup of warm water and a teaspoon of the pepper, gargled twice, it was really spicy, but not unbearable (but it still no worse than having the sore throat). Afterward I immediatley felt better!
It still hurts a little, but it is 90% better than before.
This is a great site and I will use it from now on before I make a trip to the doctors! Keep up the good work!!! You guys ROCK!!!
I had the worst sore throat of my life I was sure it was strep, but tested negative. I put vaseline on my lips to coat them to avoid the burn then I mixed lemon juice in maple syrup( master cleanse) with as much cayenne pepper as I could stand and started drinking it throughout the day. Wow I felt so much better I could sleep in peace
"i had a bad experience with the cayenne pepper i only put in about a 1/4 and when i gargeld my eyes just caught on fire it was horrible my parents were asking what was wrong because it looked like i was crying
Cayenne pepper did not cure my sore throat entirely, but it did lessen the pain significantly. However, I went overboard in my desperate attempts to cure my painful throat, pouring several tablespoonfuls of cayenne pepper in hot water instead of the recommended teaspoonful (that amount did not work for me), and ended up with a nasty cough when the pepper caught in my throat.
What had been a simple sore throat then turned into a sore throat (albeit much less painful) + severe dry cough the next three days. On the third day i coughed so badly that i vomitted my stomach and throat contents, and guess what? The cayenne pepper dislodged itself from my throat. Sweet relief, but the sore throat remained and got worse. I eventually gave up attempts at self-medicating and went to a doctor who prescribed a dose of antibiotics. The sore throat cleared up within two days.
So I've been having a sore throat for the last 6 days. Today saw a doctor and she prescribed Zithromax 5 day treatment. We'll see. However, the pain I have in my throat is terrible and I can't swallow. 3 advils do not help. So I came here and found the Cayenne Pepper Water gargle thing. I went, took 1 teaspoon into 1/2 cup warmish water. the first few gargles went well. I'm used to spicy food so the tongue thing didn't worry me. But my throat pain is deeper than the gargle hits. So the last round I let some of the solution drop deeper into my throat. When it came into contact with whatever is irritated, my entire head caught fire. I had extraordinary pain from my throat through my ears and I was tearing and shaking uncontrollably, gripping my sink with both hands... I howled from the pain. it took a good 5 minutes and deep breathing to calm down. Basically, I maced myself it seems. This did nothing for the pain in my throat either, only, it showed me that the infection does in fact radiate to my ears. Now I will wait for the antibiotic to kick in I think. I'm still shaken up by it but I think I'll survive.
I used cayenne pepper to cure my sore throat. I am 30 yrs old & have had various sore throats throughout my life. Recently, I ended my job of 10 years & therefor lost my medical insurance meaning I couldn't just go get some antibiotics or something. I had an annoying but not completely horrible sore throat for several days which seemed to hurt the most during the night & when I woke up in the morning, but the pain would subside throughout the day. This afternoon however, after about 4 days of it lingering, it turned for the worse & I would wince from merely swallowing my own saliva. I searched the internet for various cures & this site was better than any I found. After seeing all the yeahs for cayenne pepper, I gargled 1/4 teaspoon with 4 ounces of hot water. At first it didn't seem to help because the soreness was so far back that the gargling didn't really reach it. I then gargled while trying to open my throat to the point of gagging & boy did that make a difference! It reached my sinuses & very back of my throat & was soooo painful, but in a good way if that makes sense. It was like the pain was being burnt away. My throat still hurts, but it's definitely A LOT better. I'm going to go do it some more.
Alexandra (Apple Valley, California, Usa) on 01/26/2010:
After a week of an excruciating sore throat, debilitating earaches, and two visits to Urgent Care I stumbled upon a miracle. Cayenne Pepper is the best! I haven't been able to swallow without almost crying for a week, and now, an hour after drinking a cup of water with 1/4 tsp of cayenne, and a glass of orange juice with a little over a tsp of cayenne, I am practically pain free. A suggestion to those spicy-tolerant folks out there, up your ante. I love cayenne on food and knew 1/8 of a tsp wouldnt be enough. The tsp is perfect.
Cayenne Pepper cured sore throat and found a sack.
I read some of the other statements about the results of the cayenne pepper for sore throat before I decided to use it. I wasn't exactly how much cayenne and water to use, but I did read a Tbsp was too much so I opted for a generous heaping 1/4 tsp in approx. 3/4 cp of warm water. I shook up the mixture in a small jar with the top on. I gargled three times, then 20 mins. later I gargled thee more times. I could start to feel the pain subside a little. But like others, I too had a lot of pain further down my throat. This is why I gargled the second time. This was about midnight and I could not sleep due to the pain in my throat. After about a half hour after the second gargle it loosened up mucus in my sinus cavity to the point that (Warning: this next part is pretty gross) when I closed off the back of my throat with my tongue then released my tongue quickly pushing the air forward though my nostrils only (not my mouth) a huge deflated sack the size of a oversize grape came flying though my nose onto my tissue. It was filled with junk and mucus and blood (yulk). I instantly felt a difference even though some soreness in my throat still existed. Little by little the deep pain in my throat dissipated and the next morning the pain in my throat was gone. I have never seen anything like that sack. If anyone every had this happen to them, did they loose a sack?
For the last 15 years I have been treating my colds and sore throats with cayenne pepper. As soon as I feel the first symptoms, I take one table spoon of cayenne pepper, wait a couple of minutes before drinking a glass of room temperature water. This treatment always, always works and it takes a two or three hours for all the bad symptoms to disappear.
Based on your reading about Cyan Pepper as a cure for soar throat I put it on today morning and now just hours later I can see indubitable a befit of do ing so ...
I am a Naturopathic Medical Doctor who has not practiced for the last four years since giving birth to 2 sons. Before this, I was practicing anti-anging medicine and not doing a lot with home remedies. Needless to say, I was very rusty in the home remedy department. Two weeks ago, everyone in the family developed a cold; my 2 yr old, 9 mo old, husband and then myself. Mine started with an excruciatingly painful sore throat. I sat on the couch thinking there was no way I was going to sleep that night because it felt like someone was sand-papering the inside of my throat while holding a hot blow dryer on it. My husband made a late night run to the store to get a humidifier for my oldest son and I got on the computer to find this site of home remedies. I had my husband pick up some cayenne pepper while he was at the store. When he got home, I immediately made up the remedy. I used 1/8th tsp of Cayenne in 8 oz (a regular sized coffee cup) of warm water. I took the advice of one of the previous posters and smeared vaseline all over my lips so they would not burn from the pepper. Then I began gargling. I gargled each time for 10 seconds until the entire cup was empty. My sore throat instantly vanished. However, I didn't know if it was because the remedy actually worked, or because the cayenne kind of numbed the area. So, I repeated the gargle again. Just like magic my sore throat completely disappeared for good. This is one of the best remedies ever!!! I can't believe I forgot about this one. I definitely give it 2 thumbs up!!!!
I had such a horrible sore throat for two days. last night the soreness was soo bad that I got out of bed and typed "sore throat" into a google search, hoping to find some releif. This site was the first one on the list. After reading everyones testimonials on the Cayenne Pepper remedy, I decided to try it. I HATE spicy food and cannot stand the burn in my mouth at all so I was skeptical but I was desperate for some relief. To my complete amazement, it worked. I gargled warm water and 1/4 tsp of cayenne pepper in a small glass of warm water until it was gone. I went to sleep for about 2 hours. (It took a little while for the burn to subside but it wasn't nearly as bad as the pain of the sore throat.) When I woke up, my sore throat was more than 50% better. I just gargled it again to reinforce. What an amazing surprise! I will be telling everybody about this remedy...Thank you! :-)
Visited grandchildren, one of whom came home from school with very sore throat. Flew home and woke up with very, very sore throat. Gargled twice with salt water until store opened; bought some cayenne pepper and gargled (1/4 tsp in 8 oz warm water) every two hours for 8 hours. Immediate relief after the first time. No problems with lip or tongue tingling from the pepper .... less severe than eating spicy wings.
This is a godsend! I have had a viral infection for 5 days now with severe sore throat pain and went to the doctor two days ago and he gave me nothing.....I tried the Cayenne, Honey and lemon juice remedy above and I am in instant relief! thank you all!
Cayenne Pepper delivered me from a toe-curlingly painful swallow to pain-free swallowing within about 4 hours yesterday. I dumped one capsule of CP into about 6 oz. of very warm water, and gargled every 15 to 30 minutes. I got better at the gargling with some practice! I found that rinsing my mouth with cool water would remove the pepper from the front of my mouth, but not the throat, so I began finishing up with rinsing, and had very little pepper burn on my mouth and lips afterwards. I will continue treatment until all my symptoms are gone, not just the sore throat. Thanks for this site!
I am a 41yr old mom of 5 who cannot afford to get sick...I do not work but have an extremely hectic schedul as I am also a military wife. I took the Flu mist on a Thursday and was sick as a dog by Friday evening to include a nasty feeling throat that I kept waking up to not to mention other yucky symptons. I research EVERYTHING so googling "natural cures for a sore throat" was no different...I researched it coming up with this awesome site. However, besides the fact that I am a chicken I don't really do spicy foods so the cayenne pepper remedy danced in my mind for a couple of days. I was brave enough to add it to my dinner two nights in a row thinking well I will swallow it and that will work EVEN better. The second night I had soup with probably 1/2 a teaspoon in it but this does not work! YOU HAVE TO GARGLE! On the second night upon waking up and not being able to tolerate the sore throat much more, I stumbled to my kitchen and put 4 ozs. of almost hot water in a cup, 1 tsp. of cayenne pepper, about 5 shakes of black pepper for good measure, and a generous amount of salt (i think it just makes it easy to gargle. This WORKED almost INSTANTANEOUSLY! My few coughs are producing the yuck that needs to get from inside of me and the stuff is just jumping out. You will have to repeat this. I promise 1 DROP of the cayenne concoction produces HUGE results. IMPORTANT: take a dropper or spoon and put the concoction on the back of the tongue. MIRACLE SORE THROAT CURE! DOn't be afraid as the burn on the tongue does not last long due to "capsaician" which is a natural pain killer that is found in the cayenne and other peppers.
***Have been diagnosed with osteoarthritis due to an old injury (my doctor prescribed something that she said really is a miracle topical cream-CAPSAICIAN cream so I knew this remedy would work; do the research on natural uses for cayenne pepper and it is right there! Thanks and I pray this saves someone alot of pain
i put in 1/2 teaspoon to a cup of water and gargled that ceyenne pepper as a last resort. it has really helped this is the second day and after 2 times using it with some salt water at lunch today i can eat without it hurting too bad.
Latoya (Greenville, North Carolina) on 07/26/2009:
On Friday night, I came home sneezing and with the beginnings of a sore throat. Through the night, my sinuses drained into my throat as I slept and I woke up with a burning raw throat. I got on the internet looking for anything that would allow me to get back to sleep when I found this site. I was skeptical about the cayenne pepper and I could only imagine how it would burn. To my suprise it wasnt that bad. I started with a gargle (1/4 teaspoon in 8 oz of warm water. I gargled for about 5 minutes and had almost instant relief (this was about 7:45 am). I followed the suggestions of another user about putting vaseline on your lips prior to gargling and I think that helped with the burning sensation a lot. I also ate yogurt afterwards to increase the cooling. Later that day I ate chili from Wendy's (12:00 noon) with about 5 nice dashes of cayenne (it was great) and I had chicken noodle soup (5 pm) with about 6-7 dashes of cayenne and the spiciness was almost similar to how it tastes when I add black pepper. It was very spicy towards the end of the soup (cayenne settles at the bottom) but I bravely drank the remaining broth. I will always be greatful to this site and cayenne pepper lol
i did the cayenne pepper gargle once every 15 minutes for two hours, then drank the cayenne pepper, honey and lemon tea for about four hours following, doing the cayenne pepper gargle once an hour. the gargle definitely stung but the almost instantaneous relief was worth the moderate discomfort of the sting. over the course of 6 hours, my throat went from "streppy" to nearly pain free. i'd lay odds that if i had kept up the cayenne remedies for the remainder of the day, the entire cold would have been knocked out of the park!
Cayenne pepper worked for my sore throat! I have a cold with really bad nasal congestion and a terrible sore throat. I made a "tea" with hot water, 2 T ACV and 1/4 t cayenne. I'm not sure if I would have been able to drink it if I wasn't completely congested because my husband said it smelled terrible, but to me it just tasted like hot water. I drank two cups of this tea and my sore throat is much better. I was hoping the cayenne would help with the congestion too, but hasn't so far.
I was really skeptical to use cayenne pepper. Since May I have had a horrible cough and I've been coughing up mucus for about two months. I've also had strep throat 3 times this year. Right now it's the third time. I didn't even think I had cayenne pepper and I eventually decided to look for it and to my surprise I did have it. I was originally going to try gargling cayenne pepper and peroxide. I decided to try this instead. It honestly worked for me and I am very surprised. Even drinking cold water was incredibly painful. It was swallowing that hurt the most, though. My throat is still a little sore but it doesn't sting nearly as much as it did before. I'm still drinking my tea and I also made ramen with some cayenne pepper so I'm sure by the time I finish them both I'll feel a lot better.
I've had a wicked sore throat for the past 2 days. In a desperate move I tried the 1/2 t of cayenne pepper mixed with a mug full of warm water, gargling for 10 seconds every 15 minutes... it was so disgusting and my mouth was on fire after each attempt... but 2 hours later and I can swallow without the stabbing pain at the back of my throat. Thanks for the tip
Yesterday I began developing a cold: Congestion, Sore Throat, Chills. The chills have subsided and the congestion continues, but I believe I have purchased relief from the sore throat through cayenne. In the middle of the night, I tried the ACV, but it only relieved the symptoms temporarily. This morning, I tried 1/8 t. of cayenne to 1 T. honey in a mug of hot water. I've been sipping off and on this morning with MUCH relief from the throat issues. Thank you!
I was having problems a couple of weeks ago with a very mild sore throat. One of those that hurt in the morning but would go away during the course of the day but for me that usually is a warning that something is coming. I started gargling with salt water (my previous favourite rememdy). I also read about the honey and ACV so I mixed that up and would have tsps of that every so often throughout the day. However, morning after morning my throat would still be sore. I was anxious to get rid of it because I was packing up and starting to travel around Spain. Then I added cayenne pepper (maybe 1/4 tsp.). Wow. What a great thing. The very next morning I had no more sore throat. Now, as I travel I have half a lemon in water with cayenne every morning and sometimes at night as well. With traveling on trains and planes and changing climates lately from very hot to quite cool and wet I want to make sure I keep any illnesses at bay. Yay, cayenne pepper!
i recently read this Cayanne pepper article after having a TERRIBLE sore throat for several days which made it hard to breath at times and made me short on breath constantly. i had been taking meds which are suppose to help... but didnt. i found this and tried it, and after only about two hours or so i could breath well and my throat didnt hurt at all. It did get worse to start, but after about the third gargle, i coughed something up and was alot better.
PS This will most likly make you sweat, but way worth it.
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