My mom use to make me gargle with vineger and salt solution as hot as I could stand it. A druggest I went to one time back when I was little even swabbed my throat with iodine or mercurachrome or some such shit. My doctor says that antibiotics won’t help because it is a viral infection. So what’s a poor soul to do?
I suffer from these yearly ( haven’t had one yet but I will) so what’s the best treatment? Anyone?
Here’s two remedies I’ve used with great success:
I don’t think that you can do any better then gargling warm salt water. Drinking hot orange juice is also wonderful.
I remember my grandma making me gargle hot water with an asprin melted in it. It tasted awful and didn’t work any better then the salt.
You could always try the old standby of drinking hot tea (preferably herbal). Altoids might help you feel better! They’ll cure anything! Oh, yeah, and 3waygeek’s suggestions work well too.
you say it’s viral? gargling with warm salt water. Also, though, a Michigan remedy is warm Vernors’ Ginger Ale (it’s a heavily sweetened gingerale). helps soothe. also put a humidifier in your room - dry air will hurt more going past your throat.
Boil some water, squeeze fresh lemon in it, sweeten with maple syrup, and sprinkle with cayenne pepper.
And yes… you’re supposed to drink it once it’s cooled enough. The combination of ingredients clears the throat (lemon), soothes it (the syrup and heat), and draws out the nasty stuff (cayenne pepper).
I haven’t had a sore throat since I started voice lessons… I think his concoction has scared them out of me!
If you try it, let me know if it works.
Beth
My mom has always told me to drink tea with lemon and honey. I don’t know if it does anything to actually help cure it, but it does seem to be rather soothing. It probably also tastes better than bigred1’s potion.
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hey wring can you still get glass bottles of Vernors up there? I remember my friend coming back from Merrill with cases of the stuff so we could make a proper Vernors Float 
I tried it recently with a two liter bottle and it wasn’t the same. It seemed less tart or biting,lacking that back of your mouth tang flavour reminiscent of Bitter Lemon (yet another beverage I sorely miss)!
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and now back to your regularly scheduled thread:
I love the warm salt water treatment but the sprays irritate my throat more than lozenges do
Grapefruit juice followed by salt water gargle, and then “i love lemon” tea
sorry, i have to say it…
good cure for sore throat: hot semen tonsil wash. or that’s what a friend told me. never had one myself. but i’ve had plenty of sore throats.
All of the above will help alleviate sore throat pain. The most important step to take, though, is to use saline drops, nasal spray, and/or decongestants to ensure that you continue breathing through your nose to warm and moisten the air that passes through your throat. Avoid mouth breathing, and your throat will not hurt nearly as much. This is especially important overnight.
Scotch.
Neat.
I prefer single malt.
Tea is very good for a sore throat, because of the tannic acid. Sip hot tea. Or do what one Ear, Nose and Throat specialist told me. Make double strength tea, let it cool, and gargle with it.
Hope you get well soon!
I have sore throats all the time, and this works all the time.
Gargle with Listerine. Dilute it with water (because it’s too strong for me), then gargle it and let a little drip down the back of your throat.
It will be pretty painful. However, it’s only painful if you have a sore throat. Do it a few times during the day and the sore throat will go away.
My sore throat usually leads to colds, and if I stop it at the sore throat stage I won’t get the cold.
Hot peppermint tea, with plenty of honey and lemon juice. Verrrrry soothing. And tasty.
Feynn, I think aha should save the single malt scotch until he-or-she (one can never tell 'round here) can savor it when he-or-she feels better. I recommend 18 year old Glenlivet.
haven’t looked lately, I know I can get it in cans and plastic bottles. Frankly, now that I think about it, I’m not sure I’ve even seen the Big 2 (coke/Pepsi) in glass bottles recently… do ya want me to look for ya??
For me its not the throat anymore for some odd reason, but the roof of the mouth that gets it. I usually suck on some candy.
I woke up with a sore throat this morning, actually. A cup of hot Tang cleared it right up. It’s soothing, plus, if you make it double-strength like I do, you get 200% of your RDA of vitamin C! There’s a cold going around the office, so I sure hope that was just a random sore throat.
All of the above are good, but also try horehound drops. They have been used for centuries, and are handy in places where you can’t be lugging a hot drink around. Good for hacking coughs, too.
Another vote for salt water gargling. It got me through mono.
Throat lozenge of your choice.
Hot mint tea with loads of honey.
Drambuie. I dunno. After I’ve had a few, I feel MUCH better.