Having a sore throat tends to make me rather grouchy. I’ve listed 7 remedies to relieve a sore throat for you to use the next time your throat is scratchy or achy. I’ve tried them all and of course some work better than others, depending on the severity of the soreness. While most of these remedies are common ones people tend to use, there might be a couple you haven’t tried yet.
I have a bottle of this stuff stationed next to my bed all winter long. Sometimes I wake up in the middle of the night with a scratchy throat, due to the dryness in the house. It’s much easier to reach over for the throat spray and squirt it a couple of times at the back of my throat. There’s nothing that I’ve found to relieve a scratchy throat quicker than the numbing throat spray sold in the grocery store.
A handful of cough drops accompany me wherever I go during the colder months of the year. I find that even the cheap brand of cough drops help quite a bit when my throat is mildly sore. If I have a severely sore throat, then I go for the more expensive medicated brands. The hard part about this kind of cough drop is that I have to remember how many hours it has been between each one.
Licorice tea with a couple of squirts of honey or agave nectar does wonders for a sore throat. There are other benefits to consuming licorice root, besides helping soothe your throat. The root of the licorice plant is also good for colds, the flu, coughs, chronic fatigue, and viral infections, which sometimes come along with a sore throat.
I usually lean over my cup of hot tea and breathe in the steam in between sips. If you aren’t a huge fan of tea, then take a large mixing bowl and pour a few cups of boiling water into it. Place a towel over your head and the bowl as you lean over the bowl of steam. Breathe deeply and the warm moisture will make your throat a lot less painful.
The mucilage contained in Slippery Elm coats the throat and reduces the amount of soreness felt. It also acts as an astringent because of the tannin contained in this useful herb. Slippery Elm is perfect for reducing swelling and healing damaged tissue. This herb is perfect for people who have been suffering from the flu for an extended amount of time.
Honey tastes yummy and it leaves a thick coating on your throat which eases the pain felt every time you swallow. It is also an excellent immunity system builder. Besides having anti-bacterial properties and being loaded with antioxidants, it also improves the digestive system. You can mix honey with lemon juice for a homemade cough syrup too.
Mix 3 tablespoons of honey with an eighth of a teaspoon of cayenne powder, and a fourth of a teaspoon of powdered ginger. Add 5 tablespoons of boiling water to this mix and gargle with it. This is by far the best remedy I’ve found for a sore throat. My mom adds in a tablespoon of cider vinegar as well.
The next time your throat isn’t feeling too great, maybe one of these 7 remedies to relieve a sore throat will come to mind. I try to have a variety of these remedies on hand at all times. I never know when a sore throat will arise! What remedies do you use for a sore throat?
Top Photo Credit: DonnaGrayson