10 Best Natural Remedies for Soothing a Sore Throat

Cayenne Tips

Posted by Nina (San Diego, CA) on 03/07/2008

Cayenne pepper works, but in order to ease the hotness, I just use orange juice. Put an 1/8 of a teaspoon in a glass of orange juice, and drink it. Make sure the oj has pulp in it, the cayenne will bond to the pulp, and it won't burn your mouth at all! I have been using this method for years. And DON'T use milk to "ease the hotness" when you're sick- avoid dairy products

Cayenne Tips

Posted by Regina (Seoul, South Korea) on 01/07/2009

The orange juice tip worked for me.

During the winter and summer vacation, I work with young kids for about 3 or 4 weeks. However, I'm an insulin dependent diabetic, which means I'm more prone to getting colds or other illnesses. I ended up with a bad lung infection the last time I worked with children and swore I'd take extra steps to make sure I'd not get sick this time.

So far so good, but this morning I woke up with a start of a sore throat and went into a mild panic on how to stop it. I found the page on various cures and decided I'd try the cayenne pepper cure. However, being diabetic, I simply don't have honey in my kitchen. I do have juice, so I put some pepper in orange juice and sure enough my sore throat faded. I followed up by drinking the same solution after lunch and I just had one after dinner.

I'm still drinking it just to be safe because my sore throat faded away this morning and hasn't returned.

Ted's Remedy Feedback

Posted by Missy (Toronto, Ontario, Canada) on 03/03/2008
★★★★★

Hello, FIRSTLY, I THANK EACH & EVERY ONE OF YOU, ESPECIALLY TED for taking the time from your busy schedules or physical discomfort for sharing and helping all of us in need. GOD BLESS YOU ALL!

My throat was not only like razors when swallowing, horrible coughing from chest with phlegm & fever, but my gums were very swollen especially on the right side of mouth behind the molars. They were seriously infected, sort of cut up, open lesions and extremely sensitive when I tried to eat. My Tinnitus was so loud my balance was affected. My head was pounding, sinuses all stuffed up and face puffy. I'm scheduled for nasal surgery on the 20th of this mth and needed to clear this up asap or no surgery. I need to avoid antibiotics now as I may need them later and less is more. Oh, and my lips were very cracked and dry. (I just threw out my toothpaste as per info re: fluoride poisoning on this site, using baking soda & H2o2 combo)

I read [your] article about the ice cream and lo and behold....that is exactly what I had at my favourite Chinese Buffet two days prior and even had more of it since then. This seems to happen every time I eat the darn stuff, but NOT as bad as this time. My body must have been very acidic due to over consumption of meat & starch from the buffet along with the poisonous chemical in the ice cream.

Ted's soooo smart and I thank him from the bottom of my heart for his compassion and knowledge. So I began to alkaline my body with the baking soda WITH NO ALUMINUM and 1/2 of a lemon in a glass of R/O water (reverse osmosis). The AVC just didn't do it for me.
I stepped up the Super Cal Mag Plus (Shaklee), Vitamin B Complex (which included zinc and Vitamin B2) as per Ted & took Emergen-C (best vitamin C around) & 3% H2o2 spray, food grade & CELL FOOD drops in drinking water & vitamins.

I had not read as far as the cayenne cure as yet, so I made a Organic green tea with ORGANIC ginger (huge difference and very potent) and raw honey. Chewing on the ginger really burned, killed me to chew as gums were so sensitive. (even chewing on ORGANIC garlic did me in). I love spicy foods, but this was so unbearable....I quickly took a large spoon of Virgin Coconut Oil & swished it around my mouth. IMMEDIATE RELIEF! Better and quicker than bread or milk. I pushed a chunk of it onto the cut gums and just let it gradually melt, WOW, IMMEDIATE RELIEF. The cuts started to close up. Lips are a lot better too. I kept all this up over the past 4 days. BUT, I wondered why I was having such coughing jags, then I remembered that I turned down the humidifier in the basement furnace during our last cold snap as the windows were full of moisture. I just turned it back on at 3 am last night. Woke up with no coughing & no pain but also no voice. If you live in an apartment, remember, it may be to dry in there, get a humidifier, air moisture very important.

I quickly came back to this site and read more. I started chewing on the cloves (not garlic) and finally I can speak, not great yet, but I can speak.

Ted's remedy with Green Tea & Baking Soda combo was what got everything in my throat to finally settle down as of yesterday. I used Organic, no pesticide tea. This combo is the best, I even squeezed in 1/2 lemon juice. (Always remember to wash the outside of the lemon with some of your dish soap to remove pesticides and other germs before cutting into it.) Oh, and to aid the alkaline, I made a pot of Organic Black Turtle Bean Soup as per the Gout remedy (I do not have gout) but thought this would feed me and keep everything alkaline.

I forgot to mention, I also started taking New Chapters Holy Basil to reduce cortisol due to STRESS. Do not swallow. Just crack open the gel tab with teeth and let the God awful contents stay under the tongue for a few minutes and then swallow. You can spit out the gel tab after you get all the contents out. Really helps with the soar throat & stress. Take as often as needed. It really helps to calm everything down.

Cayenne Tips

Posted by Angela (Rock Hill, Sc) on 01/09/2010

Definitely agree. Don't use sugar. I mix mine with real lemon juice, warm purified water (not distilled), and Grade B organic maple syrup. This gives it a warm herbal tea flavor. It is the same as the "lemon juice diet", but I do not fast very often. I like it because it is healthy and I have osteoarthritis that is very painful in the winter and it helps with that a lot.

Tongue Stretch

Posted by Lauren (Santa rosa, California) on 02/17/2008
★★★★★

Here are the instructions to easing your sore throat pain:

Stick out your tongue as far as possible, trying to touch the tip of it to your chin. This is an extreme stretch; when you feel you have reached full stretch capacity, stretch it further, and then even further. You should give this all you've got. You should stretch your tongue toward your chin until you nearly gag. That's it! Usually, sore throat pain will be minimized (if not removed!) immediately. Repeat this technique every half hour until signifigant improvement is gained. I have used and shared this technique for over 10 years with family, friends, and clients, with nearly 100% of people reporting moderate to complete pain relief. -richelle hawks

i tried this and it worked for me.

Tongue Stretch

Posted by Annsmeal (Bailey, Colorado) on 09/21/2010

I have used the tongue stretch for many years as well. I always tell people to look in mirror when doing this because your tongue should be rounded not pointed when sticking it out. This method uses different muscles and works better for a sore throat.

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.

Cayenne Pepper Recipes

Posted by Laura (Pittsburgh, PA) on 02/05/2008
★★★★★

I tried James' remedy tea first. Let me say, I HATE vinegar, and it was god awful to swallow down. I took about 4 sips, gargling first, then swallowing. My throat has gone from razorblades to feeling just swollen, but thankfully, ABLE TO SWALLOW! I'm not suprised it worked, based on all the reviews. I will suggest that you follow what another post said and mix equal parts honey to apple cider vinegar if you can't stand the taste of vinegar. I don't mind the cayenne, so I still mixed about an 1/8 teaspoon with 2 TBS honey and 2 TBS ACV. I added a bit of hot water (like 1/4 cup) and a dash of lemon juice. I gargled and swallowed this. I think I will continue to do the "shots" as opposed to the tea. BUT IT DOES WORK! I managed to eat a nice chocolate donut (ah comfort food) within 10 minutes. AWESOME!!! I will continue every two hours throughout the day with the shots. I imagine adding some ginger may help, as well.

Cod Liver Oil

Posted by Sherry (Athens, Georgia) on 01/24/2008
★★★★★

I have found that taking a tablespoon full of cod liver oil the first thing in the morning has taken care of the onset of a sore throat. I also, take it throughout the day as needed.

Also, I've been introduced to Oil of Oregano. I started with 1 drop in the cod liver oil, because it is soooo potent. I mix it well and take, letting the spicy hot numbing effect do its work in my mouth and throat. I now take 3 drops at a time.

Cayenne Tips

Posted by Blue1965 (Stafford, Virginia) on 12/28/2007

To remove the burning from your mouth after using cayenne pepper or chilli pepper, take a slice of bread and push it down on your tongue & the roof of your mouth. The pepper grounds stick to the bread and come right off the skin inside of the mouth. You might have to move the bread around to get it all but it stops the burning.

Tea Tree Oil

Posted by Dana (Fort Worth, Texas) on 12/05/2007
★★★★★

I have had a sore throat twice in the last two weeks, probably due to allergies, and both times I have COMPLETELY kicked it by gargling with tea tree oil mouthwash (I found it at a health food store). I would use it maybe 3 or 4 times during the day whenever it started hurting again, but w/each use it hurt less and then was all gone! Gasp! It had felt swollen as well and that also went away... it just seemed to kill whatever was causing it. I didn't even gargle that long, since it has a sort of medicinal, monkey urine flavor --but don't be scared. Hope this helps somebody!

Hand Therapy

Posted by Heatre (R'dale , us) on 09/14/2007
★★★★☆

i tried the hand n throat thing! it made less pain but didn't make my sore throat go away! it works better if while you are doing this not to open your mouth!

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.

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.

Vicks Vapor Rub

Posted by Esvl (Strand, South Africa) on 07/14/2007
★★★★★

I tried the sore throat cure of vicks vapour rub and a scarve around my neck and it helped.

Acidophilus

Posted by Tamara (Yukon, OK) on 08/17/2008

Acidophilus can actually be taken with an antibiotic and should be taken with an antibiotic. This is why.... antibiotics kill good and bad bacteria. When the good bacteria is killed, it can cause diarrhea or a yeast infection. The probiotic, acidophilus, will help keep the normal flora, or good bacteria intact and help prevent antibiotic associated diarrhea or yeast infections.

Cayenne Tips

Posted by Helen (Toronto, Canada) on 04/21/2007

Cayenne pepper remedy cured my sore throat. This helped: Cover lips with vaseline before gargling. Keep tongue up by the roof of the mouth when sipping. Finally, keep a cold wet washcloth while gargling, wipe lips (especially inner lips) and tongue with it, it helps. Rinse washcloth every time to remove pepper dust from cloth. Washcloth dipped in icy ice cube water works best. Stinging from pepper subsided within a few minutes.

Hot Sauce

Posted by Lori (Oklahoma) on 11/25/2016

Hey,

I use hot sauce sometimes for the sinuses, and sometimes if I can't get warmer because I'm cold natured! Seems to help! But even though I like hot sauce I don't eat hot sauce alot. Helps with the sinuses, feels like u have a fireball in your tummy throat and on your lips, but u know if it works it works! Have a great day

Cayenne Tips

Posted by Gail (Las Vegas, Nv) on 02/14/2011

Let the cayenne and glycerin sit for two days? My throat hurt so bad I didn't have time to wait. I mixed it according to your suggestion and immediately dropped it into my throat. Mixing it with glycerine did produce a sweet flavor. Within in minutes I was able to swallow with much less discomfort.

I'd like to know why I should wait two days before using the concoction.

Thanks

Coconut Oil

Posted by Sunny (Ca) on 09/05/2021

You don't need to use the clove and it will still work. But I'm sure the clove powder makes it better.

Epsom Salt

Posted by Michelle (Phoenix, AZ) on 01/28/2007
★★★☆☆

WORKED TEMPORARILY

i soaked in a bath with epsom salt and when i got out i felt way better! my throat did not hurt at all. But it only takes the pain away for a couple hours. But its better than nothing.