If you have a sore throat, it hinders your activities that involve the use of your voice. This usually happens during winter because the temperature is too cold for your body to adapt. You may also experience scratchy throat when you have flu or a common cold. The virus or bacteria causing an infection that makes you feel sick are the same bacteria that causes a sore throat. A sore throat usually goes away after a week but with some treatments or medications to be taken, it can give you instant relief that you need against any pain and irritation.
What Is a Sore Throat?
A sore throat is a type of infection that goes with a cold or flu, it gets worsen every time you eat and swallow the food. You will usually feel the pain and scratchy feeling in your throat that hinders you from sleeping too. Other causes of sore throat include allergy, air pollution, temperature, and other things that may irritate your throat.
Why Do Sore Throats Hurt?
Sore throat is painful because during that time your throat is swelling and the nerves in your throat are affected. Your throat becomes very scratchy at night time because of the dry air that your nasal passages obtain. When your throat is dry, it automatically gives you a signal that there is something wrong with it. A persistent sore throat will continue the next morning and will give you total discomfort in swallowing any food or drink that you consume.
Sore throat is not that serious but it is still important to find a remedy that will instantly give you relief so you don’t have to bear the pain for the entire week. Moreover, it is one of the serious symptoms of COVID-19, so it is best to seek sore throat treatments to prevent this type of virus from getting inside your immune system.
What Are the Best Treatments for a Sore Throat?
Drink More Warm Water
A dry mouth is not ideal for a sore throat because it can only lead to throat irritation. So, one of the easiest sore throat remedies you can do is to keep on hydrating your throat with warm water. Yes, it should be warm water because its temperature can help soothe a sore throat. Unlike cold water that only irritates your throat, triggering cough or cold, so avoid them if you don’t want to worsen your condition. Just make sure that the warmness of the water you drink is something you can bear because if it’s too much it can also result in a scratchy throat.
If you are the type of person that is not fond of drinking warm water because it tastes bland, you can add some flavor to it with the use of lemon. Lemon is best for sore throat remedies because it can break down the mucus that is responsible for the pain you feel. Lemon is also a citrus fruit made up of vitamin C, which will help boost your immune system. Follow the steps below in making lemon water for persistent sore throat.
How to Make Warm Lemon Water
- Pour warm water into a cup.
- Add lemon juice. (To make a lemon juice, just squeeze the lemon to get juice and get 1 teaspoon as measurement.)
- Stir the mixture until it is dissolved.
Gargle With Salt
Next in our sore throat remedies is to gargle with the use of salt. Salt has antibacterial and anti-inflammation properties that can give you some relief because it reduces the swelling in your throat. Salt is very effective because it is even used after periodontal surgical procedures. It can also remove the bacteria in your throat as you gargle and spit out the saltwater, you are drawing out the bacteria that are causing pain in your throat. So, if you gargle with salt water, you can make your throat clean right away. You can gargle with salt every 2-3 hours until you get the sore throat relief that you want.
How to Gargle With Salt
- Boil one cup of water.
- Stir in half a teaspoon of salt and wait until it dissolves.
- Sip the salt water and hold it in your mouth. (Make sure that the temperature of salt water is not too hot.)
- Gargle or swirl the salt water around your mouth for 15-30 seconds.
- Spit out the salt water.
Use Peppermint
Peppermint is a sore throat treatment too because it is made up of menthol which helps mucus relief due to its cooling sensation. It is known for its antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties that can reduce swelling in your throat. There are a lot of ways peppermint is produced, it could be candy, oil, or even a sauce. However, if you are using peppermint oil make sure that you mix it with another oil because peppermint oil is not advisable to be ingested alone.
You can also use a hot sauce for sore throat remedies just make sure that it has pepper as one of its ingredients. It may sound absurd because hot sauce is hot and it may irritate your throat more, but hot sauce is not consumed as you use it with your food. You must prepare a glass of warm water and mix with one drop of hot sauce, and then gargle it afterward.
Suck Some Garlic
One of the causes of the scratchy throat is the fact that your throat is infected with bacteria. But with the use of garlic, your throat will be free of bacteria because garlic has allicin for antibacterial properties. You may have noticed why your parents recommend you to suck some garlic whenever you feel sick, this is because garlic has healing measures that prevent attack by the common cold virus. Just don’t forget to brush your teeth afterward because garlic has a strong smell that makes your breath smell bad.
Take Antihistamines or Pain Relievers
There are over-the-counter medications that are best for treating sore throat and fever. If you have a persistent sore throat and you can’t bear the pain anymore, you can take Ibuprofen and Naproxen to help you feel better. You just need to follow the instructions of your doctor about the indicated usage of the said medications.
However, if your situation does not improve, and you already have a sore throat and fever as well, make sure to prepare a digital infrared thermometer with you. In this way, you can check your temperature from time to time to see-to-it that you don’t need proper medications from a professional.
- Press the “on” button of the thermometer.
- Wait for the screen to stop showing temperature.
- The moment you hear two consecutive beeps, place the probe into the ear canal or forehead and press “scan”.
- Remove the thermometer after you will hear another long beep.
- The screen will light up and will show your body temperature.
- You can perform the same procedure at least three times if you want. The thermometer will automatically switch off after 60 seconds.
Conclusion
Sore throat is the result of your cold and cough and in order for you to relieve yourself from any pain and discomfort without going to a doctor, you must follow the best sore throat remedies presented in this article. Just don’t forget to get plenty of rest for all these sore throat treatments to take effect right away.
Sore throat and fever could be an indication that you have a weak immune system too. If you are interested in how to boost your immune system fast, make sure to check out the next article.
Disclaimer:
The content in this article is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always consult with a healthcare provider before making any changes to your health regimen. The author and publisher do not take responsibility for any consequences resulting from the information provided in this article.