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.
Cayenne
Posted by Rich (Atlanta, GA) on 03/13/2008
★★★★★
Cayenne Pepper for sore throat (Remedy) - put me under "Yea" please. This works. I don't usually care a bit for most home remedy -type stuff, but I'm sitting over here developing strep. It got so bad that I couldn't even swallow like a normal person without restraining the reflex to vomit, and having to wipe my eyes from the pain. Me. A 30 year old guy as big as a football player. My mom actually called me with this cure. The pain was so bad that I figured why not, so I hit the store and came back to give it a shot. That was at about 1:15PM. It is now not quite 3:15, and I feel so much better, I can't even tell you. There's still some pain and soreness there, as anybody would expect, but it's just a shell of the agony it was this morning. I would not write this comment if I didn't mean what I say. If you're in pain, try this. It will burn your mouth like hellfire for a minute, but it's gloriously, beautifully worth it. When the fire dies down, you'll be shocked at the difference. Thanks Penny, and thanks Earth Clinic.
Cayenne
Posted by Jessica (Riverside, Ca) on 12/30/2012
★★★★★
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!
Cayenne
Posted by Dawn (Orlando, Fl) on 03/22/2012
★★★★★
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!
Cayenne
Posted by Jessie (Lakewood, Ohio, United States) on 11/20/2011
★★★★★
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.
Cayenne
Posted by Erin (Dyer, Indiana) on 01/11/2008
★★★★★
Cayenne Pepper for Sore Throat.....Oh MY Gosh...I feel like crying..it WORKED..I AM SOLD! I have been sick since Xmas..first the Flu and it went away and then I got sick again! This time I waited for over a week thinking it would go away..nope! Had to go to the Dr who said I had a sinus infection and prescribed Z-Pack and Nazonex. She also did a Strep test that made my already horrible sore throat 100 times worse!! My throat was so painful everytime I swallowed I felt like some one was sticking a knife in my throat..I am NOT kidding. I called back to talk to the Dr and she was out..the nurse said to gargle with Salt water and suck on cough drops.."come On" I thought...I tried it..and of course it did not work. I was in tears..got the throat spray..didn't help. Googled Sore Throat and found this web sight. Thank GOD! I was hesitant (not a spicy food girl at all) but sooo desperate I sent my husband to the store last night for it. First I put it in Soup..just alittle..then I gargled with the 1/8 tsp & 1 cup water. I only did half of the glass..it was not bad like I feared. By the time I went to bed to my amazement..my throat improved 75%. I put some in my coffee this morning..not to bad..then in my soup again for lunch. I am SOOOOOO HAPPY to say my throat is at 98% improvement!!!!! I hadn't slept 2 night prior without waking up 3 or 4 times in pain. Last night I slept straight through!!! I am telling EVERYONE!!THANK YOU! I would still be a miserable mess right now with out trying this. Believe a once skeptic..This Works!!
Cayenne
Posted by Shelby (Blue Springs, Missouri, United States) on 04/30/2011
★★★★☆
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.
Cayenne
Posted by Stephanie (Ruidoso, New Mexico, USA) on 04/14/2009
★★★★★
Cayenne pepper for strep throat works GREAT! I have had strep throat four times (confirmed) in the past five months. I went to the doctor, took the antibiotics given and about 2-3 weeks after the antibiotics were finished, I would get symptoms again and my doctor suggested seeing an ENT doctor to get my tonsils out. At the first signs of strep throat this time (achey, sore throat, lump in throat) I saw this site and thought why NOT try the cayenne pepper. I had two small white patches in my throat so I KNEW it was heading to strep and I started gargling 1/8 tsp organic cayenne pepper with warm water around 5pm. I can NOT eat hot foods and was scared to death but it wasn't bad at all. It burned my tongue more than anything but I was desperate! I also added some cayenne pepper to my chicken noodle soup. I probably gargled once an hour at first but right before going to bed, I gargled every fifteen minutes for about four times. I went to bed (still seeing the small spots on my throat but feeling better). I slept for about 7 hours- which was GREAT and first thing looked down my throat and one spot is gone and the other has been reduced dramatically. Now, I have to admit that I caught this one early and I think that helped immensly but I am a believer! Thanks so much to all your postings! I am going to shout it from the rooftops - CAYENNE REALLY WORKS!
Cayenne
Posted by Karla (MO) on 02/20/2021
I read where avoiding dairy products can help prevent strep throat.
Cayenne
Posted by Monique (Cincinnati, OH) on 03/05/2009
★☆☆☆☆
I tried gargling with the cayenne pepper every 15 minutes to help cure my strep throat but nothing was working. I even tried mixing the cayenne with apple cider vinegar and still nothing. I even swallowed the apple cider vinegar and my throat still feels like it is on fire. Since strep is a bacteria and contagious I truly believe now that it is one of those things that should be treated with an antibiotic to ensure that it does not come back. No home remedy for this one.
Cayenne
Posted by Alicia (Birmingham, United Kingdom) on 12/02/2008
★★★★★
Chest infection/ Strep throat
I came across this site when searching for cayenne pepper uses as I knew there was something pretty special about it. I have a chest infection, which when combined with asthma is pretty horrific. I haven't been able to breathe and my throat has been so sore. I tried cayenne pepper in orange juice, in the first cup i used only a few sprinkles, in the second 15 minutes later i poured loads in. The burn didn't really effect me. Immediately I feel a little more alive, and my nose is less clogged. I think this will really work if I take it every day. Miracle cure!
Measurements;
1 teaspoon in total in 400ml of orange juice.
Cayenne
Posted by Amber (Florida) on 07/15/2015
I woke up at 1:30 this morning w a sore throat so bad, I couldn't sleep. It's been on and off for over a week now. I was doing the goldenseal, echinacea, licorice tincture spray religiously for a couple days w throat coat tea and lots of water, lozenges which I thought took care of it. The last few days it's come, back w a, vengence and I really didnt wanna go to the Dr. I thought it'd just take care of itself.
Ran out of the throat spray and lonzeges stopped helping so I gargled w tsp of paprika as well as half a line and a cup of hot water. Lots of clear mucous came up and Im still having discomfort when I swallow but after every gargle (and especially swallow) of the drink, I keep spitting up which obviously tells me its working to bring up all that infection. Anybody else experience this? I'll be doing this all day tomorrow when I wake up and hopefully have good news tomorrow that the pain is gone. Thanks for all your tips! Oh! Also did the qtip w the cayenne on the back of the throat. Great idea
Cayenne
Posted by Salem (Providence , Rhode Island) on 01/18/2008
★★★★★
I am a teen and my throat was annoyingly sore and since me being really sensitive I was ready to cry because it hurt so bad. So, I went online and looked up remedies and found cayenne pepper. I went straight to my dad's spice cupboard and found the pepper we used to make Buffalo chicken. I put a little bit of water and a few dashes of pepper and gargled it. It burned my lips a little but it was nothing to the strep I've had so hats off to this great website for curing my ailment.
Cayenne
Posted by Lindsey (Kissimmee, FL) on 05/16/2007
★★★★★
Go figure that I became ill on the day I'm graduating from high school. I had been feeling lousy for the past few days, but today it finally kicked in: sinus headache, sore throat, lots of chest congestion. Of course something would happen to me like this, today! (I'm not usually one to get sick. I have became ill with strep throat without fail every winter break through high school, but that's it for the entire year) In an act of desperation, (of course I didn't want to go to the doctor today) I googled "home remedies for sore throat and congestion," and this site popped up. As I began reading I wasn't too sure that it would work. But as I said, I was desperate. This morning I could barely tear myself away from my bed, so I forced myself to go to Publix and pick up some ground Cayenne Pepper and a bottle of Pure Clove Honey. I meant to pick up a few lemons as well, but it slipped my mind. As I arrived home I mixed the honey and pepper and 3 ounces of water together to take it as a shot. To be honest I was a bit nervous to taste the concoction, but after I got up the nerve to try it I was amazed! I immediately began having to run to the bathroom to cough up phlegm! I had a cup of ice cold water ready in the case of a burning sensation, but there wasn't any. I was impressed. Now about 25 minutes later I think I might just be able to have the energy to walk across the stage and graduate from high school tonight. :) Thank you so much for creating this site!!! It's been a life saver.
Cayenne
Posted by Emily (Beaumont, TX) on 01/18/2007
★☆☆☆☆
After reading all of the positive feedback concerning cayenne pepper and sore throats, I decided to try it. It was very uncomfortable and after a day and a half, my throat just got worse. The third day after my symptoms increased, I went to the doctor and found out I had strep. I honesty think the cayenne pepper exacerbated my throat. I will say, however, that I have been accompanying my antibiotics with a mixture of 2 tbsp pure honey, 2 tbsp Broncolin (Mexican herbal throat syrup), the juice of one large lime, and one clove of chopped up garlic heated in the microwave for one minute. Now THAT has greatly eased my suffering and I would recommed that people try any remedy containing honey and/or garlic, before they try cayenne pepper.
Cayenne
Posted by Gord (Toronto, Ontario) on 11/29/2006
★★★★★
It's 4:am and i just woke up gagging on my tonsils. it's 48 hours into a cycle of penicillin my doctor prescribed to me for strep throat and my sore throat's getting worse and my tonsils are so enflamed that they're triggering a gag reflex in the back of my mouth. i've never had a serious infection before and now with the anti-biotics not working i was starting to get worried that it was one of those super-bugs! i couldn't sleep so i jumped online and came across this site. reading the stories calmed me down alot (i'm not prone to anxiety but i think being a father of a toddler has something to do with it) and i immediately whipped up 1/2tsp of cayenne w/ 6 oz. of warm water for a gargle. i don't eat spicy foods because it upsets my stomach but i was pretty desperate. turns out for some reason it's not spicy at all, maybe because i didn't swallow it. just a little tingle and now even that's gone as i'm typing this. my tonsils not touching my tongue anymore so i feel better. i'm gonna gargle a few more times and head for bed. thx for this great site. i'm going to tell my friends about it and the peppers.
Cayenne
Posted by Kevin (Miami, FL) on 06/29/2006
★★★★★
Go spend the $1.29 right now and get some Cayenne pepper. I am BLOWN AWAY by this cure. I have suffered from sore throats all my life, and nothing has ever worked this quickly and efficiently. I just had strep throat a month and a half ago, lost a week of work, stayed in bed, then finally spent the money to get some antibiotics. I wish I had read this sooner. Yesterday morning I woke up with a feeling of dread as the right side of my throat began hurting just like it did a month ago, and by the end of the day I couldn't talk again and was weak. This is 4th of July weekend and I must party, and I had to find a cure asap. This was it. I could write forever about the hour by hour improvements, but just take everyone's word for it and do this, it's like... all I can TALK about!
Cayenne
Posted by Stephanie (Ruidoso, New Mexico) on 05/01/2009
Hi all! I posted about 2 1/2 weeks ago about my reoccuring strep throat and how Cayenne pepper worked great. And it did, but I looked in my throat last night and there are little white spots again and my right tonsil is swollen and it hurts to swallow. I guess my question is: Will it come and go for a while until my immune system is built up to fight it? I was surprised to see white spots on my throat again. It took about three-five days to get rid of the sore throat/spots the last time and have only been symptom free for a little over a week. I have done the antibiotics route and for 5 months, it kept coming back - so I don't want to try the antibiotics again. My symptoms are less severe this time around so I know that the ACV and the cayenne pepper are helping. Should I not worry and just keep trying to fight this naturally?
Any input is welcome!
Thanks!
Cayenne
Posted by Carolyn (Milford, Ct) on 07/11/2012
Last year my seven year-old daughter spent almost 7 months fighting recurring strep throat. They doctors wanted to remove her tonsils, until I did a little investigating. It turns out that pets, particularly cats, can be carriers, as can mature humans. The carriers exhibit no symptoms/white spots, but pass along the infection to those who are vulnerable. If you live with any creatures, human or furry, they may be the culprits of your re-infection. Treat them while you treat yourself with cayenne, and you may be very pleased with the results. I know we were!
Cayenne
Posted by Jory (Crossville, Tennessee, United States) on 03/01/2009
★★★★★
the cayenne pepper thing... yes i tried it, and it worked wonders, thank you so much for this, this was fantastic, completely and utterly amazing, and as long as you do it right people, it will work i swear it. my whole family had strep, and we did this pepper thing, and it worked on all of us in less than 24 hours. so save yourself a trip to the doctor, just go to the kitchen and grab some pepper!
Cayenne
Posted by Suzy (Conroe, Tx Usa) on 07/19/2010
★★★★☆
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. . .
