Home Remedies to Treat a Sore Throat
Sore Throat: Serious or Not?
Before you start treating that sore throat ask yourself a couple of questions:
- Is it severe?
- Prolonged? More than a few days?
- Is there difficulty in swallowing?
- Difficulty in breathing?
- Unusually high fever?
- Lump in neck?
- Joint pain?
If you answered yes to any of these questions you should probably try to get in to see the doctor, naturopath, or whatever medical professional you use. If not, then try some of the following methods.
In any case, if you treat your sore throat for a day or two without improvement in your symptoms be sure to contact your health care provider.

Best Gargles for Sore Throat
There are several gargles that can be used to relieve the pain of a sore throat. Generally a gargle will help cure the sore throat by changing the acidity of the throat to one that the bacteria cannot survive.
- Salt water- dissolve as much salt in a cup of warm water as will dissolve and gargle with the mixture. Repeat every couple of hours
- Aspirin water - dissolve 4 aspirin (not Tylenol or ibuprofen) in 1 c warm water and gargle. Repeat every couple of hours
- Vinegar- Add 1 tablespoonful of cider vinegar to 1 cup warm water and gargle. Repeat every couple of hours
- Sage-1 tsp sage to 1 c warm water. Repeat a 3x daily
- Garlic- boil 1 clove garlic in 1 cup water, cool to lukewarm and gargle
- Listerine- It does kill germs, gargle with it a couple of times a day
- Aloe Vera - gargle with aloe vera juice
- Vinegar Mix- one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, one teaspoon of cayenne pepper and three tablespoons of organic, raw honey in a cup of warm water.
- Any herbal tea that is recommended for sore throat can also be gargled
Please consult with a medical professional regarding the inclusion of certain supplements and herbs in your daily regimen; research proper dosing amounts and frequencies before proceeding.
Herbal Teas
There are many herbal teas that are good for sore throats as well as boosting the immune system:
- Traditional Medicines Throat Coat
- Slippery elm
- Wild Cherry
- Licorice
Herbal Tinctures for Sore Throat
Various Remedies
There are other home remedies that don't fit in either category.
Some of them are:
- Make a syrup of honey and lemon and onion by sweating 1 sliced onion until soft and then adding 1 c honey and 1 c lemon juice. Simmer for 5 minutes and strain.
- Colloidal silver, spray. Use to spray throat. If you do not have this available add 1/4 tsp colloidal silver to 1/4 c filtered water and use as a spray.
- Hold a couple of pieces of sliced, fresh garlic in your mouth like a cough drop, chewing it once in a while.
- Homeopathic Belladonna, 30x every 30 minutes until symptoms subside
- Zinc-get the lozenges and allow to dissolve
- Vitamin C
- Propolis as a spray
- Trilight herbs- Vira-mune
- Trilight herbs-Throat care
- Trilight herbs- scout out
- Trilight herbs-lympha rub
- Herbs For Kids- Cherry Bark Blend
- Herbs for Kids-Eldertussin
Lots of Rest
People don't rest nearly enough when they are sick. Most of the time people try to get some chemical medication into their body to bring it to a functioning level so they can work more.
No wonder so many people get sick!
The best thing to do when you are ill is to stay in bed. Drink lots of filtered water. Eat fruits and vegetables, especially those high in vitamin C. Eat pumpkin seeds for the high zinc content. Relax, sleep and allow your body to heal.
Questions & Answers
Comments
I take a spoon of honey for my sore throat.. it just works fine it can be reapeted often without side effects.. love u hub..
Salt water- dissolve as much salt in a cup of warm water as will dissolve and gargle with the mixture. Repeat every couple of hours
--- This tip helped me a lot! Thanks! Votes up :)
But I think, the subject renmains more to be researched . Any way nice , your article .Thanks .
gargled lemon juice 3 times and it worked!It was simple and fast!
when i have sore throat, i used to gargle with salt and water, thanks for the information on other options of gargles.
Thanks I will use this info.
thanks a lot for all the great ideas
My Momma is sick nd this is pretty helpful
Am having sore throat now. Just used warm salt water gaggle and garlic and i have gotten some relief. Thanks for the hub.
Thank you. Very helpful,God bless u
great remedies you got here. I only knew a few and basic ones that really worked for me but it is nice to know more options. Thanks for sharing these remedies.
For me Aloe-Vera is the one thing that always works. it helps against a very wide range of problems.
Useful hub....nice work
I use 1 glove garlic, dash cayenne, and honey. I mash into a paste and use a finger tip full and eat it. It coats your throat and works very well. my kids will even use this (and ask for it) when they have a sore throat... i just add more honey for them.
I'm prone to sore throats. Slippery elm is very effective. I usually get the lozenges when I have a sore throat. Voted up.
A hot cup of honey lemon tea! Works every time for me =)
I'll like to try d whole method because sore throat is killing me
I get a lot of sore throats, especially on the trail end of a head cold - I find gargling with cayenne pepper and water works well - not for the faint of heart, of course!
I swear by salt water for clearing out a throat infection. Its awful if you swallow any though!
I love good household remedies, and lemons. Very well-written and highly resourceful hub. Thank you for all the recipes. Need to share with my wife ;)
thanks for shareing this info with me. its greatly appreciated! ive been suffering with this sore throat for four days and its about time to get over it! thank you very much!
Very Good Hub.
great info
Great Hub. Informative and thorough. Thanks for taking the time to share, sometimes the natural home remedies Mom and Grandma used to use still work the best! Here's to feeling well!
When I was seven I had my tonsils out and according to a doctor I visited a number of years ago, they must have severed the nerves to my throat as I haven't had a sore throat (apart from sore glands or pain in the membranes behind my tongue, upper throat when I have flu) for 36 years. This is a mixed blessing. On occasion I have been more ill with Strep throat than I knew, as my early warning sign doesn't work, but still what a total bonus, not that I'd recommend anyone having it done on purpose.
Nice hub in the prevailing dry season that caused the this problem of throat soaring. but I do surprise, how lemon & vinegar helps in curing the said aliment? as it's itself the potential cause of creating this problem.
My sore throat is minor and NOTHING WORKED
really new n nice!thankeee
great info... thanks
That's a great way to approach new innovation. Thanks for sharing.
I'll try the salt water and hot soup tonight and of course rest! 8D
Thanks ,Some really good suggestions, Will follow your hubs from now on
Thanks a lot reAlly firetrucking awesome. (firetruck see smosh new bid)
Great information here, thanks for sharing.
Didn't work for me neither.
i love good household remedies, and lemons are something that i always try to keep on hand.....thx 4 share
Great advice! Thanks for this hub.
Oh help, i tried all of them and im still ill!!!
This is perfect! great advice on this hub. I always have a nightmare trying to get rid of a sore tickly cough
Never knew there were this many options! Thanks for sharing :)
Glad to see you mentioned Sage! Great hub, thanks!
thanks very much my mom also tells me about the vinegar but i think i might pass
A mixture of lemon juice and salt water always does the trick for me:) Thanks for the extra info! Always nice to have options.
Love this hub!~ This is a really good thing to know. I get horrible sore throats all the time. Just could never figure out how to rectify the situation. Thank you sooo much. I will definitely try this!! :)
this is really a great info. i never thought these remedies actually exist! tnx for sharing this hub.
I'm not sure if the vinegar & mix will go over big with the family, but it's something new that I can try!
My mum is Irish and she swears by the Hot Toddy. Whisky (of course) boiled water, cloves, lemon, a little honey and you're all set. One side effect is a temporary feeling of euphoria.
Hmmm I wonder why...
A lot of interesting options I'll keep in mind next time I get a sore throat.
Nice hub. I think to many people overlook rest. Thanks for all the reminders.
Yes, I've made the honey, lemon, onion syrup and it does work! Thanks for the other tips, info too.
Thank you so much for this information. I always hate it when someone in my family or I get a sore throat and don't know how to make it better as most commercial products just mask the pain and don't help heal it. I will be trying these home remedies next time I feel a sore throat coming on.
Good ideas for treating ailments. Lemons are my number one choice.
We just put carrots cut by small pieces and put yellow sugar and after many hours a juice appeared than you just drinker sweet and burns in the trough
But I like the advice you giving here
Thank you sooo much!!! this page is wonderful.... I tried the saltwater, listerine, colloidal silver, and garlic remedies yesterday. I must say that today I feel SO MUCH BETTER.
Thank you, thank you, thank you :)
BEST!
Rafael
Nice lense, my throat is killing me so am going to try some of these great ideas
I have one you can add to this list. Pickle juice. If you warm 3 tablespoons of pickle juice in the microwave for about 20 seconds and drink it, you might find surprising relief. My son said it worked wonders for him. My daughter said only a little relief came from it.
This is a very interesting Hub. Personally, I have always used the salt water gargle when I am sick, but I like some of the ones you presented. I think the aspirin gargle and aloe vera gargle sounds intriguing.
Very well-written and highly resourceful hub. Thank you for all the recipes. My family just wrapped up a two-week long session of sore throats and coughs. We used the salt water and lemon-honey gargles, along with peppermint and spearmint teas steeped in hot water with added lemon peel.
Not only do these natural remedies work, they are so much better for us than their commercial counterparts.
I look forward to reading more,
Angela
This is really useful hub page on sore throat. I like your hub. Sore throats are painful and annoying. These tips are helpful for sore throat. Thank you for sharing such an amazing page. Have a look at my hub on herbal remedies
Nice Tips! Loved this Hub.
Hey Nick Wilson here, I love this hub..looking forward to reading some more
I've used the honey, lemon, and onion remedy. It works great.
Thanks for the tips! The sore throat feeling is a horrible one
Nice .
Thank you for sharing such an amazing hub, i hate it when i have sore throat, yes i do use lemon and honey for that purpose
these are fantastic -- i am going to try the homemade syrup remedy this evening as i am suffering from quite a nasty summer cold =8
Eating a lot of vegetables may also prove to be one of the home remedies for acid reflux that works well in combating the disease. Vegetables help a lot in ensuring that proper food digestion takes place. Proper food digestion makes it hard for the stomach contents to be pushed back up to the throat, a process known as reflux.This goes a long way in helping you in terms of health living.
One remedy for pain in the throat and sore throat is to have almond with black pepper.
Well one remedy is water and lemon that will will help the sore throat or garggle with salt and water allot.
I agree with premsingh...and with all your suggestions...a sore throat is actually one of the illnesses one can be pre-emptive about. You can 'nip it in the bud' if you catch it and gargle in time. The salt water and/or listerine are good suggestions.
I like your hub. Nice remedy for sore throat. I am going to get going on it for my daughter and her boy friend. Thanks so much!!
repeated gargles with a glass of warm water, having one tablespoon salt dissolved in it, is the best remedy for any sort of pain in throat. good hub.
Thank you. Very helpful. I was wiped out with a very bad soar throat yesterday. I stayed on the couch most of the day resting, drank lots of herbal tea and orange juice. I feel much better today.
Enjoyed your Hub ....
I also use vinegar for sore throat. Put two teaspoons of vinegar in your humidifier. http://cgullworld.blogspot.com/search?q=sore+throa...
Also friend of a mine suggested cayanne pepper, I haven't tried it yet, but I will test it and let you know. These are interesting remedies :)
Great remedies, Like JerseyGirl says the vinegar will cause a revolt. It will have to be the last, last of last remedies...
Great HUB regards Zsuzsy
Loved this hub! Great ideas and remedies that our family could use this time of year! I'm not sure if the vinegar & mix will go over big with the family, but it's something new that I can try! Thanks!
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