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.
Epsom Salt
Posted by Crystal (North Chicago) on 04/18/2006
★★★★★
I poured Epsom Salts into a nice hot bath to soak the aches away. Soaked a hand towel in the tub with me, then laid back with it laid over my face and neck, with another one behind my neck. When I got out of the tub, not only did my achy muscles feel better, but my throat was no longer hurting at all.
Epsom Salt
Posted by Lena (Seattle, Washington) on 06/24/2007
★★★★★
Epsom salt foot baths really work for sore throats. Soak your feet in a tub of water with about a cup of epsom salts, hot as you can stand for about 20 mins. Then dry your feet and put on two pairs of socks, woollen socks if you have them over a pair of thin cotton socks and go to bed. Each time I've done this my sore throat is gone by morning. Persistent sore throats can return though, so it's good to do the cayenne pepper gargle/ACV cayenne tea during the day if it comes back, and the espsom salt footbath at night before bed.
Vinegar
Posted by Patricia (Port Dover, canada) on 08/02/2007
★★★★★
I JUST SHOT A MOUTHFUL OF MALT VINEGAR INTO MY MOUTH FROM THE BOTTLE AND VOILA THE PAIN IS NEARLY GONE.. I READ SOMEWHERE YEARS AGO THAT IT GOES AFTER THE BACTERIA IN THE INFECTION..NOT SURE IF THATS TRUE BUT IT WORKED LIKE A CHARM!! give it a try..and vinegar really!! the first ten seconds are pretty intense but it is worth it.
Zinc
Posted by Lucy (Athens, GA) on 08/07/2007
★★★★★
No mention of it anywhere. For shame. I found that cure here and now its no where to be found ACV sounds aweful. But really zinc powder in the back of the throat has relieved the worst cases of sore throat I have ever had consistently.
Zinc
Posted by Marie (Vancouver, BC) on 01/30/2008
★★★★★
I have used zinc lozenges (the type you find in the vitamin section, not the type that looks like a candy) and it cured it about 100% of the times. It nips it in the bud. Whenever I feel that "sore throat" feeling coming on or if I wake up with an already sore throat I suck on one immediately and repeat it as often as the feeling comes back. The key is to abstain from eating/drinking for 40-60 mins after you sucked it. Many people whom I've given it to, came back and asked what this miracle cure was. If I think I have a flu or cold coming, I do the same thing with the same miracle effect. I carry a few tablets with me on a permanent basis. I also would drink zinc tablets in the morning and before bed if I suspect a bug is getting at me to help my immune system. I have used up to 6 tablets over a 24 hour period once, but normally don't need more than 2 - 3 tablets.
ACV and Raspberry Tea
Posted by Lynn (Waterville, Maine) on 08/15/2007
★★★★★
I learned about raspberry tea and started using a cup of warm raspberry tea with 1/2tsp of apple cider vinegar to gargle with and spit back out. I freaked when I saw the gunk it was nasty. If caught in time it gives a nice relief of a sore throat. From time to time I just gargle to keep from getting a build up of gunk. Especially during allergy seasons. I hope this helps as it did for me.
Black Tea
Posted by Cheska (Dahab, Egypt) on 08/21/2007
★★★★★
This is the most amazing cure! when i got throat infections they would then travel into my lungs and then only antibiotics would cure it, but recently my homeopath told me to make a cup of very strong black tea (2 teaspoons of tea in 2/3 cup of boiling water) then add 1/3 cup of freshly squeezed lemon juice, when it has cooled a little gargle half the cup, try keep gargling each mouthful for a long time and as deep in your throat as possible then spit all of it out down sink. repeat with other half of cup a few hours later and then again with a fresh cup a few hours after that, you will see the sore throat disappear!
Honey
Posted by Karla (Cleveland, OH) on 08/30/2007
★★★★★
I know I can remember reading about taking honey for a sore throat but can't remember where I read it. When I'm in a situation where I can't gargle, I take a teaspoon of honey for instant relief for a sore throat. The effects generally last for several hours.
Tomato Paste
Posted by Ninorine (Tampa, Florida) on 09/21/2007
★★★★★
An old family remedy that has been in my family for years is to boil four tomatoes with a teaspoon of salt until cooked then mash them up to form a paste. Then apply this paste to your neck area and quickly rap your neck around with warm moist towels, then lay down for thirty minutes. If you have a vaporizer place it near your head. This should clear your sore throat in about two day. The remaining juice from the tomatoe paste can be used as a soothing throat drink mixture, be sure to add a hint of salt. It works like a charm. Most say it works best on children.
Corn Liquor and Lemon Juice
Posted by Margaret (Andrews, north carolina) on 10/01/2007
★★★★★
OK, I've not gotten around to trying any of the remedies posted on this site, nor have I looked at ALL of them. But I do have a temporary cure for soothing a sore throat that I would like to share. I have a sore throat right now, now I was trying something that I have to get rid of it. What I did was this:
2 table spoons of corn liquor
1 table spoon pure lemon juice (mine was freshly squeezed).
Mix the corn liquor and lemon juice for about thirty seconds so it is well blended. Down half of it, wait fifteen seconds and down the other half. the taste, unless you like the liquor or lemon juice is horrible, but it numbs te pain almost immediately and depending on how quiet you are able to stay depends on how long it works. For me, I had to start getting after my kids and it got kinda loud so it only worked 15 to 20 minutes. I'd try some more but my tolerance for alcohol is really low and corn liquor is the strongest I've ever drank. I hope my remedy works for others though, I don't recommend any one using it for kids.
Chicken Soup
Posted by Nick (Poughkeepsie, NY) on 10/21/2007
★★★★★
A good remedy for sore throat is a hot bowl of chicken broth. One bowl is usually enough but for more serious strep throat two. chicken noodle soup works best for kids.
Honey
Posted by Meg (Lome, Togo) on 10/03/2007
★★★★★
Hi. I was reading all the responses to your Cayenne cure for sore throats and I wanted to share a cure I learned also works well: you can chew a spoonful of honeycomb. Not just plain honey, but honey still packaged the way bees make it, with the beeswax. I read of this cure in an old book of folk remedies from Vermont (when I lived in Wisconsin). I didn't believe it but a while after reading it I began to catch a cold, with my throat all scratchy and aching so it hurt to swallow. I tried this remedy, and what do you know -- after a minute or so of chewing my throat was clear and pain-free. That nice effect lasted about half an hour, then the symptoms began to return -- so I tried a second time and that cleared it up for good. I was amazed how well it worked. I'm also happy to know a second remedy to try too, since it is not so easy to get honeycomb over here in Togo. Honey is also a great for healing burns and infections -- if you search online you'll find plenty of information.
Vinegar
Posted by Ryan Preston (Leicester, England, UK) on 11/09/2007
★★★★★
I can't really give much of a different song here, but what I done to cure my unbearable sore throat and runny nose (I'm still doing it) is by mixing up a concoction of malt vinegar (ACV is hard to get here), honey, lemon juice and water. That, within the last 10 mins of commencing this note has soothed my throat a lot. Now, to cure the runny noise, I made myself hot tea (NO MILK) and added honey and lemon juice, I mixed, then drank whilst it was hot. The runny nose problem is virtually abundant. And the sore throat should be, too. So... hot water, lemon juice, vinegar and honey do the trick!
Vinegar, Salt, Pepper
Posted by Elizabeth (Orangeville, Canada) on 11/30/2007
★★★★★
I mix salt, black pepper and vinegar together. The salt helps to dry up phlegm, the black pepper appears to cling to lose phlegm and pulls it out and the vinegar appears to kill the germs. Mix together in a strength you can handle (you can mix in warm water if vinegar is too strong) and gargle about a half a cup for the first time then again before bed or if throat bothers you during the day. It's a very old remedy my mom used on me as a child.
Turmeric
Posted by Elsy (Singapore) on 03/24/2008
★☆☆☆☆
I am having a bad sore throat. I tried your remedy of turmeric, pepper, ginger in warm water. While drinking the water, the pain reduced. But it returned soon after. Then I cut up half a clove of garlic and added a teaspoon of honey to it. I was unable to take the garlic due to its burning taste. But the honey coated the 'scratchy and painful' parts of my throat. The skin has gone off at the back of my throat. So it is still painful..!
