I am just getting over a cold. Well, after a cold I always get these **horrible ** sore throats, with stabbing pains. Been to the doctor before on these, and I will probably go again. He never has much to say, but I was wondering:
What do Dopers use as sore-throat medicines? It’s hard to find sore-throat stuff only, and I don’t want to dose myself up with pills. Those sprays don’t really work for very long. I use Halls, and they help a lot, but they don’t seem to heal them any quicker. Any ideas?
Symptoms: I am not coughing, and it is very hard to swallow due to the pain. I feel my lymph nodes are swollen up, and it hurts faintly when I am not swallowing.
I swear by Ricola Lemon Mint throat drops now. Halls make me feel sick to my stomach, but the Ricolas taste yummy. They help when I have that tickly, never-ending cough, too. Fresh pineapple can also help a sore throat. Something to do with the enzymes in it, or something.
Take some advil. I never thought about it until a doctor told me to do so when my sore throat made me cry, but in retrospect it makes perfect sense, doesn’t it?
Advil or Tylenol might help, I’ve been known to use those when dealing with a sore throat.
Cold frozen stuff (ice cream, sorbet etc.) can feel lovely going down a sore throat. OK, they’re lovely any time, but they truly do feel good when I’ve got a sore throat… to the point where Papa Zappa and I call ice cream “throat medicine”
The ice cream sounds like a good bet. Didn’t really occur to me since I am not normally fond of ice cream (I know! blasphemy!) And I looove Halls, always keep some near me.
Oh, and Ricola is yummy tpp, but not strong enough.
Seriously, I do drink tea constantly, but the effects don’t last much beyond the drinking part of it. Chloraseptic spray is the same thing, the effects are quick.
I just went to the grocery store though, and bought mint chocolate chip ice cream. (My favorite) Can’t wait until dinner’s over and I can eat that! I’m considering spoiling my dinner over it.
When I was a kid, the sore throat remedy of choice was a gargle with warm salt water every couple of hours. I still use it–don’t know if it heals, but it does soothe temporarily. Of course, the aftertaste will make that ice cream taste like shit.
I would recommend avoiding the ice cream and even cold drinks; they might temporarily soothe your throat, but they could also retard the healing process (maybe a bit, anyway) and stiffen any phlegm that might be hanging about.
Personally, if I get a sore throat, I drop all caffeinated beverages and switch to warm fruit drinks, or soup. Heated chicken broth with a spoonful of horseradish, or a dash of Tabasco, or a twist of black pepper is often the best way to clear that tickly throat - in my experience, a tickly cough is often the result of a bit of mucus or something that is either too sticky and congealed to cough up, or has worked its way into a place where coughing just isn’t exerting the necessary forces to shift it.
I swear by the stuff. The lemon kind isn’t particularly yummy, but it works. They also have it in a cherry flavor. You can add a little sugar to either flavor to help. It really does help.
Well, I am both pleased & disappointed to see that I do most of the stuff in here already.
Theraflu - I swear by it, too. But I’ve been taking it all weekend & am down to only two per day now: when I get up and when I go to bed. This is only my third day on it, but I hate medicine. I usually drink it with (Chinese) chrysanthemum tea, makes it taste decent. This tea has no caffeine.
Gargling: with Listerine, but more often the old stand-by of salt. This works excellently.
I got some “Ice Blue” cough drops - my favorite! - and they are really helping. I had some ice cream tonight, and then a little after that had a cough drop and it did the trick.
Oh, and unfortunately I’ve been off caffeine since Friday (when I started feeling sick). I don’t really want coffee, but mentally I miss it. Nothing more satisfying than a good cup of java.
