Replied By Shelaine (Vancouver, Washington) on 12/02/2011
Ok, this is working for me so far... Just tried it with 1t. In 8oz warm water. Did the gargle/swallowing the spit method. My only little issue is now my lips are on fire! I recommend some lip balm/petro jelly on thick before the gargle if your lips are sensitive or chapped.Replied By Rachel (Bexley, Ohio) on 12/10/2011
The first time I tried gargling with cayenne pepper and water was two years ago when I had the worst sore throat of my life. It was 10 days. The doctor gave me antibiotics for strep throat even though the rapid strep test came back negative because she thought that it HAD to be strep. Well, it wasn't. The antibiotics did nothing, and my sore throat went on. It was difficult to sleep, to swallow, to eat. It felt like I had an open cut in my mouth--I'm not sure how to describe it. I was up in the middle of the night and found this site. I immediately tried it, and amazingly, it was the one gargle--the one thing--that brought me any relief. I kept doing it--and trying to let the pepper water get as low in my throat as I could. I would inhale the pepper sometimes and choke and spit it all out, but I was right at the kitchen sink and bound and determined to get rid of the pain. No exaggeration--within 1 day of gargling--the pain was gone. Not diminished--but gone. Now this time around when I got a killer sore throat, the only thing I'm using to gargle is cayenne pepper. I just warm up a glass of water and add as much cayenne as it can handle. I keep swirling it around to keep it from settling. The burn goes into a tingle and into a numbing. I love it. Such relief. Yeah, cayenne pepper!!Replied By Jamr (Fort Polk, Louisiana) on 12/12/2011
Can I use chili powder in place of cayenne?Replied By Heather (Dallas, Tx) on 02/14/2015
I had already tried the honey with cayenne and that did not give me any comfort. I did the cayenne ( 1 tsp) in 1 8oz cup of warm/hot water and gargled what I could stand ( it was pretty hot and I am usually not bothered by spicy things). Anyways, the burning on the tongue and lips is pretty intense for about 10 minutes. It did NOT burn my throat, only the hot water did, but not the cayenne. It has been about 15 minutes since I gargled and there is no relief. I still feel the same amount of discomfort that I felt before but now with a burn from the cayenne at the back of my throat and on my lips.