Gargle with Salt Water
If you have had a sore throat when you were a kid, which most of us have, then you will probably remember an adult telling you to gargle with warm salt water to help your sore throat. This actually works well! It doesn’t cure the cause of your sore throat, but it will definitely help you feel better after you try it.
The warm water helps to relax the muscles and tissue in the back of your throat, helping them feel better. The act of gargling also helps you to relax because if you aren’t relaxed, it won’t work properly. The salt in the water helps make it more like your natural body fluid, lubricating your throat, as well as helping to kill some of the bacteria that might be adding to your symptoms.
Start the Humidifier
Pop in a Hard Candy
Eat Soup
Try a Popsicle
If you are having trouble eating foods that aren’t soft while you have a sore throat but want to mix it up by not just eating warm soup, try a popsicle! Cold foods can also help your sore throat feel better because it acts as an ice pack for your throat.
If you are wanting something sweet, the best sweets for your throat would be to have hard candies and popsicles. You could even have ice cream! You have to be careful with ice cream, though, since sometimes they can contain bits and pieces that could hurt your throat, like cookie pieces.
Avoid Irritants
Drink Tea with Honey
Make it Spicy
Take a Steamy Shower
Elevate Your Head
A lot of the time, sore throats are caused by postnasal drip. Postnasal drip is when liquid from your nose or nasal cavities drain into your throat. This usually happens when you are also experiencing congestion, but sometimes it happens before you notice your stuffy nose. If you have a sore throat for this reason, you will sometimes notice that it is worse in the morning.
Postnasal drip can make your throat feel worse when your head is laying down when you sleep. Sleeping with one pillow or no pillow at all are the positions that you want to avoid when you are experiencing postnasal drip. Instead, make sure that your head is elevated, especially when you sleep. Add an extra pillow or two when you sleep to prevent postnasal drip from causing a sore throat.
Go Silent
If it hurts for you to talk, that is your body’s way of telling you to be quiet! Talking requires a lot of moving parts in your throat, and if there is any inflammation, that can cause your voice to sound different or even make it hurt when you talk.
Forcing yourself to talk when it hurts or when your voice is different because you’re sick can make the inflammation and pain worse. The best way to help yourself get better is to not talk! Like we have mentioned, talking will make it worse, causing your sore throat to go on longer than you want.
Take Some Medicine
If you have taken a hot shower, stopped talking, had tea, and rested, but your throat still hurts, take some medicine. The best medicine for pain because of a sore throat is acetaminophen or ibuprofen. Acetaminophen is the scientific name for Tylenol and ibuprofen is the scientific name for Advil.
Keep in mind that these pain medications are not meant to cure your sore throat, they only help with the symptoms of pain and fever. The cure for most sore throats is simply to keep doing these symptom managers and wait it out, but if your sore throat starts to get worrisome, please go see a doctor to get the proper remedies to cure your sore throat.
Stay Hydrated
Drinking tea, starting the humidifier, taking a warm shower, and eating soup will all help you to hydrate, which is always important, but it is especially important when you are sick or have a sore throat. When you have a sore throat, sometimes the last thing you want to do is to drink or eat as swallowing can irritate your throat, but hydration is so important.
Stay hydrated any way you can while you are sick. Drink plenty of water and tea, and eat foods with high liquid contents, like soup, to help with hydration as well. Keeping your throat lubricated is your body’s best defense against a sore throat, and it can only do that as long as you keep hydrating!
Rest
Resting may not be the most entertaining thing to do when you are sick, but it is by far one of the best things to do when you are sick. It not only feels good to get much-needed rest, but it is also good for your body. By resting, you are limiting the amount of energy that your body needs to spend.
When your body spends less energy walking, talking, and thinking, it can work on fighting off the infection or virus that is causing your sore throat and repairing any damaged tissues. It helps you feel better faster by simply doing nothing. You have a free pass to nap as much as you want when you are sick!
Go to the Doctor
The most important remedy for a sore throat that just won’t go away is to see a doctor. According to the Mayo Clinic, you should see a doctor for your sore throat if you are experiencing difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, difficulty opening your mouth, joint pain, an earache, a rash, or a high fever over 101 degrees Fahrenheit.
They say you should also see a doctor if your sore throat lasts longer than a week or is severe, if you have blood in your saliva or phlegm, if your sore throats are recurring, if there is an unfamiliar lump in your neck, if you are hoarse for more than two weeks, or if you have noticeable swelling in your neck or face. At your visit with the doctor, they will then put you on the right path to curing whatever is causing your sore throat.