Soothe Your Sore Throat Naturally with Cayenne Pepper

515 User Reviews

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4 star (5)		1%
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Posted by Macadi (Memphis, Tn) on 12/20/2011
★★★★★

Wow, I gargled with just plain cayenne pepper and I could feel the burn in my throat and all the way up to my eardrums, I think! Felt good like I was burning out some really bad germs! I refused to rinse anything except my tongue. I feel a lot better already and am going to do it again before I go to bed. History: had this sore throat and post nasal drip for 2 weeks now (plus really bad cold/virus symptoms on top of it). Not strep.

Replied by Brian
(Totowa, Nj)
12/21/2011
★★★★★

Tried the Cayenne and warm water gargle this morning and it was great. It's hot on the tongue but it goes away, thanks for the tip.

Replied by Matt
(Melbourne, Australia)
06/03/2012
★★★★★

Amazing stuff, provided all most instant relief! I use to gargle alcohols which seem to work as well. But this seems to have done the trick! Thanks internet!

Cayenne

Posted by Molly (Fort Lauderdale, Fl) on 12/15/2011
★★★★★

I am a singer, and after a four hour rehearsal last night I woke at 1:30 in the morning with an excruciatingly sore throat. It felt like there was broken glass in there, and I could barely swallow my own saliva. In desperation (because I have another rehearsal tonight! ), I found this site and ran down to the kitchen to try it. After gargling a cup of warm water with 1 tsp. Cayenne and 1/2 tsp. Sea salt, I felt so much better I went back to sleep. When I woke up a few hours later, my sore throat was 85% gone so I gargled again, and it's pretty much entirely gone now. I'm going to gargle with cayenne water after every strenuous rehearsal from now on! Thanks so much!

Replied by Queenvashti40
(Rock Hill, Sc)
03/16/2012

I wish I would have read this two days ago. This remedy WORKS!!!! The worst part is the mild burning on the tongue and lips... Keep in mind I'm the exception; I eat absolutely NO hot or spicy foods. Give this a try and save yourself a copay and reduce the time you're in pain!!!

Cayenne

Posted by Miki (Laporte, Indiana) on 11/26/2011
★★★★★

One and a half hours ago. My husband read on your site about cayenne for sore throat. I was desperate for relief. I have used 2 teaspoon of cayenne to a cup of water every 15 minutes wow I am about 90% better already. Thanks to all who submitted this.

Replied by Shelaine
(Vancouver, Washington)
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)
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)
12/12/2011

Can I use chili powder in place of cayenne?

Replied by Heather
(Dallas, Tx)
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.

Cayenne

Posted by Davemomusic (Philadelphia, Pa) on 11/22/2011
★★★★★

I know I'm one more log on the fire for Cayenne but as a singer with a gig coming up, it was really important to me to get rid of my sore throat. I tried the whiskey and that numbed my throat but it didn't cure it, and I didn't want to repeat it because even with the gargle, I found it went in through my mouth's pores (slight buzz). So I tried gargling the cayenne, but I really think that the drinking of the cayenne was the best. I ended up putting it in my water bottle and drinking it throughout the day. What it did best was open my throat temporarily and clear my sinuses. As the post-nasal drip disappeared, so did the sore throat. It also helped as I was teaching too. I was able to be my normal volume without losing my voice. Started drinking it Wednesday night and through Friday, by the time of the gig, I was great! Oh, and the name-brand stuff worked just fine for me.

Cayenne

Posted by Coloradopanic (Ft Collins, Co Usa) on 11/21/2011

Just tried the cayenne & warm water mixture... hot damn!! How are you supposed to possibly gargle something that is that hot??? Is it really supposed to work?? I'm desperate.

Replied by Raichealco
(Longmont, Co)
01/02/2012

Curious about this too, wondering what ratio to mix for best effect. Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.

Replied by Texaswheels
(Grapevine, Texas, Usa)
01/03/2012

I just tried this last night for the first time after having a sore throat for the last week that nothing else was helping. I put a teaspoon of cayenne pepper in a coffee cup, then poured warm water into the cup to fill it up. Gargled that mix every 15 minutes and a hour later my sore throat was gone. It was a bit hot, but went away after 2-3 minutes.

I was surprised at how well it worked and even more surprising to me is that after being awake coughing all night and have now lost my voice my sore throat has not come back, totally amazed.

Now waiting on the stores to open to go and purchase some apple cider vinegar and hoping that works as well for a cough as cayenne did for my throat.

Replied by Cheryl
(Ladysmith, Bc, Canada)
02/03/2012

I have had a cursed sore throat for over a week now on one side. It is all the way down to beside my voice box, or so it feels. I looked in my mouth and notice red inflammation by my tonsil and on my tongue side. I just went through putting one heaping tsp. of hot Cayenne Pepper with lemon and salt, I made a paste and poured a cup of hot water, added a little to cool it and proceeded to gargle, gag, spit and swallow.... Lovely... Yuck... But if I get relief, yay me. Cleared my sinuses so far and is already starting to feel better.. I shall come on after I wake up and give you all the yay, it works, or the yeah, it works temporarily or nay, just relief for a moment..... excited to see my results...

Cayenne

Posted by Madison (Duluth, Usa) on 11/11/2011
★★★★★

I got to go to work and I ahd a terrible sore throat. I used the cayenne and boom gone.

Replied by Carrie
(Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada)
11/21/2011
★★★★★

Cayenne absolutely works.

----> juice fresh lemons hot water honey as much cayenne as you can handle

-the cayenne burns a bit but it quickly feels soothing on your throat

Replied by Smilingnow
(Lawrenceville, Ga)
05/18/2012
★★★★★

It worked really well for me, did a gargle first and mixed cayenne in juice, wow I am feeling so so much better. Thanks a lot had to write a comment here.

Replied by Mrs. Hughes
(Longview, Washington)
05/19/2012

I'm going to give it a go with the cayenne. I've had a sore throat for over a week, my son tested positive for strep but I feel that I do not have strep as the symptoms just don't add up to it. I have no stabbing, horrible pain, no pus on the tonsils and no headache to report. I have developed a lump on the very back of my throat and it appears to be full of white pus, if I were to give my best guess, i'd say I have a small problem with that. So, I just gargled with cayenne and honey, tasted pretty good actually and did not bother me at all. I'm surprised that my sinuses aren't clear as a result but I have to say my throat hurts marginally less than when I started. I'd like to ease up on the ibuprofin use, so I'll stick with the gargle through tomorrow in hopes of tackling the problem and avoiding seeing a doctor (I do not have insurance). Thank you all for your input and God bless~

Replied by Nikki
(Savannah, Ga)
05/22/2012
★★★★★

I am a 3 year in college and all of a sudden I get a sore throat and it lasted for 3or 4 days finally I couldnt take it anymore so I looked up remedies online. I was very hesitant about using the Cayenne since I am a wimp for hot food. But what I did was do 1/8 teaspoon and mug of warm water. I gargled and gargled and gargled and then would swallow bits at a time.

I did feel relief immeditely but my symptoms where not all gone but after I did it three more times periodicaly through out the day by 10pm that night throat felt good and I woke up this moring with no tightness or hard to swallow or pain in my throat

I would definitely recommend this to other people.

Cayenne

Posted by Brenda (Newark, Delaware) on 10/23/2011
★★★★★

My almost 8 year old Son had symptoms of a cold working its way toward his chest. His Sore Throat was soooooo bad that he could not even eat or swallow. I did everything to help him. Vitimin D3, Bee Propolis, Hydrogen Peroxide Gargle, Childrens Cold Sampler Tea, Throat Coat Tea.... BUT THEN I came on here and saw the YES for Cayenne Pepper, Salt, and warm water Gargle and we did it! Within an hour he could TALK and FELT better! His EYEBALLS looked BLOOD SHOT but I gather that was from the Pepper and how strong it was to his system. He woke up this morning and NO SORE THROAT AT ALLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL! CURED!!! He still has lots of mucus and of course his cold symptoms but NO SORE THROAT!

Replied by Pureheart
(Lauderdale Lakes, Florida)
11/17/2011
★★★★★

Well after reading several of these amazing results for cayenne, I gave it to my 14 yr old. She had a bad sore thoat for several days. Missed school on Tue, went Wed and called me five times to pick up today; Thurs. Before I left to get her I googled natural sore throat remedies and found this site. I make it with 1 tsp of cayenne and approx 6 or 7 oz water, warmed it up in microwave and told her to gargle with it. She told me in less than 10 min. "Mommy, this stuff is amazing, I feel better. I can eat"

Replied by Coco
(Walhalla, S.c.)
03/16/2012
★★★★★

I mixed some Cayenne pepper w/some ginger ale and sipped several glasses of it tonight. This has worked wonders for me. I am glad I found this site. Years ago there was a Ginger Ale with cayenne in it that we had only when sick with a cold. I dont think its made anymore. Reading this jogged my memory. First I gargled a bit with warm water, then I made my drink. This is great. My throat feels fine now. Its been 5 hours. Try the Ginger Ale mix! Ive had a terrible burning sore throat for 5 days.

Cayenne

Posted by Dana (Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin) on 10/17/2011
★★★★★

Cayenne for Sore Throat

Thank you! 3 days, very sore throat. Nothing worked. Gargled ten minutes ago with 1 teaspoon of cayenne in 1/8 cup of warm water and already a big chunk of hard phlegm came up! Felt better immediately. This actually works.

Cayenne

Posted by Mikel (Revelstoke, Bc Canada) on 09/21/2011
★★★★★

I tried gargling with ACV, hydrogen peroxide, salt water, drinking garlic, ginger, honey and lemon broth. No success after 5 days of not being able to talk without gagging. Then I did cayenne with a little lemon, salt and honey and that took it away overnight.

The side effect was that I woke up in a pool of sweat. I don't mind that as long as I don't have to cringe everytime I try to swallow. I had used this cure years ago, but I forgot about it. Thank you for reminding me of the best cure for sore throat!! I can talk and swallow again, what a relief.

Cayenne

Posted by Brittany (Chicago, Il Usa) on 09/08/2011
★★★★★

I am very sceptical to any home remedy really, but I am a full time college student with a part time job, and getting sick is just not an option. I woke up two days ago with a sore throat and as my day at work went on it kept getting worse. It would also be my 5th sore throat this summer, which I had taken a lot of antibiotics for. But the second I got home from work, I looked on the internet for any cures, and stumbled upon this. I felt it was my last option.

To my surprise I put 1 teaspoon of cayenne in a glass of warm water with a pinch of salt, gargled and then repeated a few hours later. I was sooooooo septical but it seriously worked! My throat was 99% better the next day! I am so extremely amazed! Thanks!

Cayenne

Posted by David (Albuquerque, New Mexico) on 08/29/2011

Just learned about this remedie today. I have had a very bad sore throat for about four days. Went to the doctor and was diagnosed with a bacterial infection. My sore throat was very bad. I had not been able to eat anything for three days because the throat pain was so bad. The pain has been so bad that I have been unable to even swallow my saliva. I hadn't been able to get a full night of sleep. My sore throat has never hurt this bad. I got me a cup of water and mixed it with red cayenne pepper and a little bit of salt. I gargled several times and kept spitting it out. I did swallow my saliva after gargling. My throat started feeling better about 15 minutes later and the excruciating sore throat was gone after about an hour and a half. I still felt a little soreness but I am amazed at how well this worked. I can tell you it wasn't that bad and didn't taste bad either. It definately worked for me and I hope it will work for you

Replied by Bob
(England, Bristol)
09/02/2011
★☆☆☆☆

It taste more horrid then you can imagine.

Replied by Gloria O
(Jennings, La)
12/02/2011

To: Bob, from England: I am a fellow Bristolian and all I can tell you is "stiff upper lip, old chap! " Go ahead and try it. It isn't ALL that bad. I only gagged several times and almost threw up. My throat is a little better. I'm waiting to see what happens tomorrow.

Cayenne

Posted by Richard (London, United Kingdom) on 08/25/2011
★★★★★

Hi, I just wanted to say thanks. I've always been fascinated with the remedies on EarthClinic.com but never tried one out until now.

For about ten days, I've been trying to deal with a stubborn saw throat. It was raw and swallowing was painful and difficult. As suggested, I tried gargling then swallowing some cayenne pepper in a glass of water.

The next morning my sore throat wasn't just improved... It had GONE. I'm amazed. Further testimony to the fact that we don't always need to throw pharmaceutical medications at ourselves at every opportunity. Thanks again!

Replied by Courtney
(Kalamazoo, United States)
09/06/2011

how many times did you gargle the water and cayenne pepper?

Cayenne

Posted by David C (Melbourne, Australia) on 08/22/2011
★★★★★

Just tried this today and it worked almost instantly! Just get a cup (250ml) of orange juice with pulp and mix it well with about 1/8th of a teaspoon of Cayenne and sip it slowly.

Cayenne

Posted by Marcus (aka Hookah-victim) (Jax, Fl, USA) on 08/20/2011
★★★★★

Amazing Amazing Amazing..... Its a miracle.... Ok, here's the story --- a little more than 2 weeks ago I went to a bohemian style restaurant that served Hookahs... Having never tried it, I ordered one and began to puff away the entire evening.... Very cool.... However 3 days later I woke up with a terrible sore throat and congestion... (beware of the public hookahs!!!!!! They are FUNK harbingers!!! ).... I gargled with mouthwash many times, and salt water also, and nothing got rid of it.... It has lasted a full two weeks and I was at my wits end and even considering going to the Doc which I never do... But last night I googled and found this site... I immediately went to the kitchen and found that I did not have any cayenne pepper... However I did have a shaker of "Tony Chachere's Creole Seasoning" which lists red pepper (cayenne) as one of its main ingrediants... So I got a coffee mug and shook a good amount of it into the mug and even threw in some salt on top... Then I just filled it with tap water and stirred..... Then I began to take small swigs and gargled them.... I never actually drank any outright but I did swallow the spit I had which was heavily laced with the salty peppery concoction.... After I got thru the whole mug I went and got a spoon full of honey and slowly swallowed it to coat my throat... Then I went to bed... This morning a woke up and guess what.... NO sore throat... Its completely gone... Many many thanks for the remedy... it realy works!!!!!

P.S. just say no to hookahs :-)

Replied by Booya!
(Mount Laurel, New Jersey, Usa)
09/15/2011

So my throat has been hurting for the past four days. And I googled some remedies and found this website. I was saddened that I had no cayenne pepper, so I looked around for something with red pepper in it. I picked up the Old Bay, read the ingredients and rejoiced when I saw that it had red pepper in it. I gargled that bad boy and IMMEDIATELY my sore throat was gone!!!! AHHH!!! The only side effect I have now is a tingling mouth from all the spices Old Bay contains. I dont mind it though!!!

Replied by Lpta08
(Roanoke, Va)
10/17/2011

Just tried this because I woke up with a terrible sore throat caused by allergies/sinus drainage. I didn't have any cayenne pepper but looked in the cabinet and found some montreal steak spice. Mixed it with a cup of water and gargled til it was gone. It helped ALOT!!

Cayenne

Posted by Geri (Loomis, Ca) on 08/07/2011
★★★★★

Cayanne Pepper completely cured my sore throat! I read several of the testimonials as I am quite a skeptic when it comes to self promotion. I figured who really has much to gain in the pepper industry?

I have had a sore throat for 1.5 weeks. It is the longest lasting throat issue I have ever had. I have a strong immune system, however, I guess it wasnt this time around to fight this unblelievable cold. My throat felt like a thousand razor blades when I swallowed. I became desperate to cure this as I kept thinking it would go away soon and it was only getting worse. I mixed Chicken Broth with Cayanne Pepper and gargled with it and then swallowed. It was hot going down, however, my throat began to feel much better immediately. I did this several times and then right before bed. The next day, no sore throat!!! What? I couldnt believe it.

Now I am working on the cold that comes after. I am going to treat my mucous and cough with Apple Cider Vinegar, Lemon, Ginger, Honey and Cayanne in a tea. I am hoping for another miracle!

For every ailment, there is a cure. Mercy is all over the planet. Good luck~ I hope this works for you as well!