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.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Isaac (Champaign, Il) on 10/25/2011
★★★★★
after 2 days of sore throat, I tried a Jack Daniels, honey and Lemon juice gargle, but it didn't really work well for me (probably because I couldn't stand it long enough to gargle) then tried mouthwash about an hour later and that didn't help at all. After coming to this site I tried hotsauce and lemon juice I meant to gargle but swallowed accidently. For about 30 seconds I was in the most god awful pain ever, then I hacked up a chunk of phlegm the size of a quarter that looked like it had a tiny bit of blood it it. I was worried, but I coughed up a smaller bit that didn't have any, and hadn't seen blood since, so I think it was just from violent coughing.
Long story short, this is one of those things that hurts like hell when you first take it, but after that initial "Oh god someone kill me" reaction you start to feel much better very fast.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Ashley (Jacksonville, Fl) on 07/31/2009
★★★★★
Have had the worse throat infection, woke up crying it hurt so bad. I just finished off a bowl of noodle soup. I took about two cups of the soup and added knockoff tabasco sauce, about 7-8 drops and my throat feels a lot better! Going to try gargling with it next!
Hot Sauce
Posted by Mark (Cambridge, Ontario) on 03/17/2009
★★★★★
i tried this one with Franks with cayanne in it.it w orked great five drops in a cup of luke warm water. and presto no sore throat.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Mike (Detroit, Michigan) on 02/20/2009
★★★★★
I gargled with 3-8 ounce cups warm water with hot sauce diluted and ate some hot chicken noodle soup sprinkled with hotsauce in and my sore throat disappeared. I want to thank you and your community for great remedy.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Ryan Beacher (Coatesville, PA) on 10/08/2008
★★★★★
Okay, so basically, i know this is going to sound crazy, but I'm telling you. This works 100%. So, I've had strep throat for about 4 days now, and it is NOT getting better. I was looking online for anything that would help, and i came across the cayanne pepper trick. I ran upstairs to see if i had any, and to my dismay, i did not. what i did have though, was franks red hot sauce, containing, vinegar, water, and of coarse cayanne peppers. I just carry a bottle around, and drink one swig an hour. and honestly, i have no pain whatsoever, my throat feels fine. its not so much a cure, as much as its instant pain relief. its amazing. it legitimatly works better then any medicine ive ever seen. try it out if you dont believe me.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Katheryn (Columbia, South Carolina) on 02/24/2008
★★★★★
I was rather skeptical about using any of these remedies... I sucked it up and took a glass of hot water with some generic hot sauce and a little honey. After just the first sip my sore throat that has been around for over 2 weeks was much lighter. I will continue to use til it is gone completely. Thank you so much!
Hot Sauce
Posted by Tamairo (Milwaukee, United States) on 02/12/2008
★★★★★
I read through a wealth of information here. I was very skeptical about using tobasco sauce! It is just way too hot. However, I didn't have any in my kitchen anyway. If I did, I probably would have used it as bad as my throat was hurting. I ended up using a derivative of the tobasco sauce. I got the Louisiana Hot Sauce from my cupboard. I read the ingredients and Cayenne Pepper was in there. So I figured, what the hell! Most people on here have said that it works, I am in so much pain! I thought, well, my throat feels so bad, it can't do anything but get better from this. I took a small 4 ounce plastic cup. I put about six shakes of hot sauce, and the rest hot water. I gargled with this solution for about 5-6 gargles in a row. The first few times, my throat felt like it was on fire. I thought that the fire department would need to be called. I was looking for a fire extinguisher! Anyway, to my surprise, this remedy actually gave me alot of relief! I couldn't believe it! I am going to see how I feel in the morning. I was just about to go to the ER. I just decided to search the net first and found this site. Awesome guys! Thanks for your helpful suggestions! I feel alot better.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Christopher (Springfield, MO) on 02/12/2008
★★★★★
One more thing: if you're using milk to unbond the capsicum from your mouth and stop the burning, I'd advise just rinsing with it and not swallowing. You should avoid eating dairy products as much as possible while fighting a cold because they cause your body to secrete more mucous and phlegm--which means that you'll actually be making your congestion worse.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Chris (Springfield, MO) on 02/11/2008
★★★★★
I've found another good vehicle for the cayenne sore throat cure is bouillon broth. It ads to the beneficial effects of the hotness the other beneficial effects of salt exposure. I don't have any cayenne or Tabasco on hand (and the weather is not such that I can easily get out and get them right now), but I have Sriracha, which is a hot pepper/garlic sauce I got from a local Oriental food market. I mixed a teaspoon or so of it with the beef bouillon (didn't really measure, just squirted a glob in that looked about that size), and it worked well.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Brandon (Pasadena, Maryland) on 02/06/2008
★★★★★
Hello, today I got a bad sore throat and found this site. I'm only 15 so I don't have a lot of this crazy stuff people have laying around but I read about people using different kinds of hots, so I thought about things I have like that. A1 Steak Sauce (best stuff ever) came to my head. The way this work is, you get a table spoon and fill it with A1, then one by one drink 5-10 spoon fulls of it in a row very fast(between 5-8 sec between each spoon full), in about 3-7 min my throat stopped hurting. The measurements for this will probably varies for more or less server cases, and I don't suggest chugging the bottle. Only thing bad that happened is a bit of face sweating from the A1. ((And you'll have less sauce for your steak!!)) One more thing that could be important is, my A1 was cold, I know it adds something to it that I don't get from warm A1. So if your a steak guy, or a woman married to a steak guy, or a steak woman this is a great tasting cure for a sore throat.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Bob (Monroe, LA) on 12/31/2007
★★★★★
I didn't have any Tabasco but I had some habanero sauce. I swallowed a spoon full and my sore throat ceased immediately. I'm sweating a little from the heat of the sauce but it is a welcome relief from my sore throat.
Hot Sauce
Posted by AL (Kuching, Malaysia) on 08/30/2007
★★★★★
I had read alot of positive feedback about using cayenne pepper powder to cure sore throat but unfortunately, in this part of the world, cayenne pepper isn't easy to find. So I thought I'd try a substitute instead-pure chilli powder which we keep an abundant supply because we cook curries so much.Then I decided to combine the other effective ingredient which have been also highly recommended by readers here-ACV! I had a terrible sore throat which was hurting very badly so I mixed a teaspoon of chilli powder with a 1/4 cup of ACV, then diluted the mixture with 1/2 cup of warm water and gargled 1/2 of it. The back of the throat burned a little but I didn't make much out of it. Then I rinsed my mouth and drank some water before going to bed.It didn't seem any better immediately after but the next morning , when I woke up, the pain in the throat was gone although I still felt as if a cough was still going to come up.I gargled the mixture again throughout the day, about 2 hourly and by evening, the sore throat was totally gone. I tried it with my children, aged 4 -13 and it worked for all of them too. Although my 4- year old felt it was too hot for her, she quickly took a chip of ice to cool her throat down. I must also add, it will not work if it's only done once a day-it will only be effective if it's gargled at least 3-4 hourly and for a very bad sore throat, every 2 hours.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Barb (phila, pa) on 07/11/2007
★★★★★
I fill a spray bottle with cayenne and water/honey/lemon, and I don't have the problem of burning lips, mouth etc. I squirt it down my throat (i'm using an old Cloraseptic bottle), and I avoid that unpleasant feeling in and around my mouth.
Hot Sauce
Posted by Sam (Ewa Beach, Hawaii) on 03/21/2007
★★★★★
Been using hot peppers for ever, but I just take a very small bite of Tai, Jalpeno, Habanero or whatever hot pepper I have on hand. Your saliva starts to flow like crazy but then just swallow very slowly, letting your choice of pepper ease down the throat. Don't choke and I can eat unusually hot food I am told. But it works like a charm within hours it you can handle the heat.
