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Cayenne for Strep Throat

5 star (46)		85%
4 star (5)		9%
1 star (3)		6%

Christine (On, Canada) on 06/20/2013:
5 out of 5 stars

Strep Throat: I used the 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper in hot water as I could take with 1/4 lemon juice then I gargled it. I am amazed at the relief I felt. I was able to sleep the night. I'm going to keep at it a few times a day until it clears up. Amazing!!

Jessica (Riverside, Ca) on 12/30/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

I contracted strep throat on my right tonsil (unmistakable white patches) and spent several days taking ibuprophen for the pain, hoping that the strep would clear up on it's own. When it became difficult to swallow, I found the home remedy of using cayenne pepper on this website. I applied the cayenne pepper with a qtip dipped in honey and then the pepper, directly to my inflammed tonsil. The next morning the swelling and pain were reduced by roughly 50%! I reapplied the honey/cayenne pepper twice more throughout the day and by the second morning the white patches were almost gone and the swelling was as well. By day three my throat was completely back to normal! I am absolutely amazed that such a simple cure worked so well! Thank you earth clinic!

Ursula (Weston, Fl) on 06/15/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

I loved the Cayenne on a Q Tip idea! It worked! I dipped it in a bit of honey first to make it sticky and then the cayenne. I swabbed the white pus pustules on my tonsils with the cayenne Q tip. Gagged a bit but was worth it because the pain was gone in 5 minutes. Did this 4 times a day for next two days. By day two was able to remove the white spots with the Q tip. Kind of gross but I got the infection out! No doctor no antibiotics! Wow!

Dawn (Orlando, Fl) on 03/22/2012:
5 out of 5 stars

WOW, what a cure! I woke up a few nights ago with a raging sore throat; every swallow felt like I was choking down razor blades and I was in tears. Sleep was impossible so I did a net search for remedies and found earth clinic.

I've tried ACV in the past without much effect, but cayenne was a new idea to me. It sounded terrible, but I was in too much pain and willing to try anything. Mixed up a cup of warm water with about a quarter teaspoon of pepper, and added a squirt of lemon for good measure.

I found the gargle much easier than I expected. It felt pleasantly warm, not blazing hot, wrapping my throat in soothing heat. The relief was instantaneous and within minutes the raw pain had subsided to a dull ache that I knew I could sleep through. When I awoke the next morning I still had a cold, but the sore throat was gone, and never came back while the virus ran its course. Wow. I am a believer! Cayenne really works!

Bobby (Sicksburg, Tennessee) on 01/06/2012:
4 out of 5 stars

My throat was sore last night. Woke up and its all inflamed with a sharp pain when I swallow. Looked in the mirror.... Its strep...... Went to the doctor, waited an hour..... Ended up getting two shots instead of amoxicillin (allergic)...... Had to pay $92.50, no insurance.

I just tried 1/2 tsp of cayenne pepper, tsp of lemon juice, tsp of honey, dash of cinnamon, in about 8oz of hot water...... pain was immediately cut in half! Pain returned to about 75% after around 15 minutes....

I won't be able to tell if this treatment can actually cure this bacterial infection since I am shot full of anti-biotics... However I can attest to the wonderful pain relief delivered by cayenne! Thank you so much earth clinic!

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Jessie (Lakewood, Ohio, United States) on 11/20/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

Yes! It works! I was skeptical it would help my strep throat but I did it nonetheless. I gargled before bed and felt like it did nothing to help. When I woke up I felt what I would estimate to be 70% reduction in swelling and pain. Unbelieveable.

Krasavitza (Philadelphia, Pa, Usa) on 11/14/2011:
5 out of 5 stars

Yesterday I could feel the strep throat coming on so, I came to my favorite forum to find out how to treat it. I went to the doctor today and have the antibiotics just in case, since this is my first time trying a home-remedy for strep throat, but I am hoping to not have to start taking the prescription. After reading numerous posts on strep throat, I decided to take everyone's advice and tweak it to what I hope will work for me.

What I did was take about a teaspoon of raw, organic honey and mixed into it about 1/2 teaspoon of organic cayenne pepper. It made a thick, sticky reddish paste. I then (using a small flashlight to aid in seeing back into my throat) used a cotton swab to dip into the paste and then brush it onto my tonsils and uvula. (the uvula is the dangly thing hanging in the center of the back of your mouth and the tonsils are on the sides). I am keeping it in a tiny tupperware container to use until my strep throat (hopefully) goes away.

I was gargling with a warm-water and cayenne mixture, but that was burning my tongue so much that I thought this might be better; plus I'm applying it directly to the problem so, I think it is a better idea. I love that it doesn't burn at all when I apply it directly to my tonsils!

Shelby (Blue Springs, Missouri, United States) on 04/30/2011:
4 out of 5 stars

Okay, so I've had strep throat for three days and haven't been dealing with just a sore throat- it's the whole deal: body aches, head aches, and a horrible fever. I'm on antibiotics, the maximum dosage that I can have, but the pain has been getting worse in my throat. I'm also an asthmatic, which, of course, does not help the situation in the slightest because it makes it very difficult for me to breathe.

I Googled home remedies for strep and this was the first website that came up. The most revered fix seemed to be the cayenne pepper (and that was the only thing I had in my cabinets that was on the list) so I went ahead and tried it. I just sprinkled some into a little bit of orange juice and drank it down. Since I cannot stand cayenne pepper, not because it's spicy but because I hate it, I followed the glass down with some milk, but I sipped it because I was afraid the cayenne wouldn't work properly if I didn't. I must say, it worked a lot better than I expected it to. Although I can still feel the swollen, tender lump in my throat, the pain was 95% gone after I had finished the drink and I can breathe a little easier now.

Hopefully, this response will work for somebody else, the way it worked for me.

Bill (Philadelphia, Penna) on 11/28/2010:
5 out of 5 stars

I've been reading many of the comments on using cayenne pepper for a sore throat and also for strep. I figured by now we all know it works so there was no reason for me to add my two cents. But so many people seem to have a hard time with it. Even the ones who have no problem at all are making it much more difficult than it has to be. When I feel one coming on all I do is take a Q-tip and wet it. Then dip it in the cayenne and dab it on your throat where you feel the pain. If you need more turn it around or get a new one and keep going until you cover as much as you need to. I was surprised that you don't even taste it and no burning at all.

A few weeks back my throat started killing me. I never even looked at it all day. The next morning I woke up in great pain. I looked in the mirror and there it was. A big white spot on the back of my throat about the size of a jelly bean. I dabbed a little cayenne on it and never even thought about it again. About two days later I remembered it and thought "That's weird. I wonder what happened to my Strep" I looked in the mirror and couldn't see anything. Gone.

The Q-tip works fine but what I've been doing is using a camel hair brush. It's a number 6. They're actually meant for painting models(cars, planes etc. )It works better because it has a much longer handle and you can see better because you're not stuffing all your fingers and half your hand into your mouth. Just rinse it well and then rinse it in some rubbing alcohol or peroxide so you don't keep recontaminating yourself. Also dump a little of the cayenne out into a cup or on a plate or something and then when your done rinse it down the drain. Never dip right into your cayenne container. Anyway hope this helps those who don't/can't gargle the cayenne. I know it's not pleasant, I've tried. This is much easier plus the cayenne is EXTREMELY concentrated and not literally watered down.

Suzy (Conroe, Tx Usa) on 07/19/2010:
4 out of 5 stars

Yes Cayenne Pepper is effective! You will find that most reviews here say that they received a 50% cure within the first day. The point here is that you have to continue the use of it (just as you must continue a full pack of antibiotics because they keep working up to 10 days after you take your last one). A couple people here said it did not work for them, but I wonder how often and how long they used it for it not to work? I read every review here before I tried it yesterday(07/18/10). I woke up Saturday morning with a severe sore throat that felt swollen and raw, stiff and painful neck, chills, body aches, and occasional minor headache. I googled sore throat and then realized that I had strep throat, first time in my life and I am 30yrs of age. My clinic is closed on weekdays so I needed something to get me through the weekend since many over the counter drugs/meds were NOT doing anything for me and the pain! Only thing that did help a little was sore throat spray. You will find you have several options with the cayenne pepper. You can gargle it with warm water; use about a 1/2 tsp cayenne with half or full cup of warm water. I prefer using less water because then you won't have to gargle as much, but you are still getting the same dose of cayenne. Someone else spoke of eating 1/8 tsp of cayenne, allowing it to rest in their throat for minutes until they chased it down with milk. That is probably one of the more effective ways offered as it is direct contact. Another idea I learned was mixing it in with a warm drink. You can either heat natural lemonade or water, and add honey, lemon of course, and a dash of cayenne pepper. Microwave it and slowly sip. The lemon mixed with cayenne and heated up has a kick to it, so prepare yourself! But it taste sweet and is tolerable. I find it better than liquid meds. Last you can just add it with whatever food you'd like! I put some of that chili in a can (vegetarian actually) on a piece of bread and sprinkled some cayenne on top and ate that last night. I basically took a little of everyone's advice and applied it. I am on day two and I have noticed a significant positive change! The pain has subsided by about 75%. I have no doubt that if I continue on with this pattern I will be cured within 1-2 more days. Regardless if I do feel better by tomorrow (day 3 of cayenne use) I will continue through the day with it just to be sure it is gone!

This is what I did on day one and plan to continue each day for 3 days total:
Gargle with 1/2 tsp cayenne in 3/4 cup warm water until it's gone. After each gargle, it wouldn't hurt to swallow a bit of each gargle to be sure it gets in your throat. Right after that I warmed 1 cup of water in microwave with about 1 tbsp of honey, squeezed a couple slices of lemon in water, and sprinkled some cayenne with it. Then I took some medicine, and since we cannot discuss brand names I cannot say exactly what I used. But it is the stuff that you can buy over the counter in the medicine aisle, used specifically for the ". . . . . Flu" or for "severe cold & cough. " It comes in packets (powder form which you dissolve in water). I bought the double pack, which had 6 packets of daytime and 6 for night time. The daytime is "berry infused w/ menthol & green tea. " The night time packets contain "honey lemon infused w/ chamomile & white tea flavors. " Regardless, they still taste like medicine. So if I was you I would not mix it with a full cup of water like the directions say, but rather make it a shot! Next I took 5ml of colloidal silver, a mineral and NATURAL OVER the COUNTER ANTIBIOTIC! It cost me $10. There are several brands out there of colloidal silver. I personally shop at specific vitamin stores to get supplements that I can trust. Next I ate 2 oranges because this source of natural vitamin C is the absolute best! I know this from personal experience when I was cured of illness when I had no access to supplements or vitamins, but only access to food. (Basic Training). Last I ate chili on piece of bread with sprinkle of cayenne on top. I have no doubt that the combination of these things worked together to heal my body. But I know that the cayenne does work because of the fact that I did feel better soon after I gargled and consumed it which was before I had taken anything else. I will follow all these steps today and tomorrow. I doubt I will need to go to the doctor now! I will follow up in 2 days. . .

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