Today is the 4th day I’ve woken up with a lump in my throat. It hurts so badly to swallow, I find myself collecting large pools of saliva in my mouth throughout the day just to avoid having to do it. Eww, that’s gross, I know. And probably too much information.
I’ve also tried every natural remedy that I know of, and I still haven’t beaten it. It seems to be worse at night, before I go to sleep. But when it gets the absolute worst is when I first wake up in the morning…just thinking about the pain in my throat – as if I’ve swallowed a fistful of knife blades – the last three mornings is enough to make me wince.
So far, I have tried:
- Gargling with warm salt water.
- Drinking orange juice with a pinch of cayenne pepper powder. Except, I forgot to drink it through a straw. Okay, I will do it next time.
- Sucked on so many zinc-containing Zand Herbalozenges that I have no taste anymore and don’t feel like eating.
- Imbibed cup after cup of hot water spiked with oodles of honey and lemon.
Here are the things I HAVEN’T yet tried, but will hopefully get around to trying soon:
- Made myself some horehound candy to suck on. This is actually my favorite remedy (well, more for coughs than sore throats, but I wonder if it wouldn’t work as well), but I am out of horehound and forgot to stock up this past winter. I don’t like any of the recipes I’ve found online because they all contain brown sugar, corn syrup, or cream of tartar (?!), and I can’t find the one from my Master Herbalist classes.
- Gargled with a drop of Cedarwood essential oil in a half cup of water (from Jeanne Rose’s “The Aromatherapy Book.”). I am out of Cedarwood oil – gave my last bottle to my Mom.
- Gargled with Heliotrope tincture (also from Jeanne Rose’s book). <== This is because I can’t seem to find anyone who carries Heliotrope tincture, nor do I have time to grow any Heliotrope first!
- Sucked on a sugar cube with a drop of Cinnamon on it. (I have no sugar cubes in the house). <== Also from Jeanne Rose
- Used any hot compresses around the throat (such as with apple cider vinegar, or lobelia and hops, or castor oil) – I’m still nursing and I’m afraid of what my little one might think of this (or do with this). (From Diane Stein, “The Natural Remedy Book for Women.”)
All right, anyone else have any other suggestions? Please leave them in the comments so I can collect them up into this post with a backlink to your site. Thanks in advance!
Have you tried making onion syrup? You just slice up an onion thinly and pack a layer of onions into a mason jar, then cover with honey. You keep doing this until you fill the jar, layer by layer. You can use it after a few hours – take a tsp every so often. I’ve done this several times with good results.
No, I haven’t! Thanks for this tip! Question: any particular color of onion? Yellow? Red?
I was going to say just the honey and lemon, but I’ve also made the syrup and gotten good results. Something about the honey coats the throat to relieve the pain. then of course honey has anti-bacterial properties as well to help clear up the infection that may be causing the pain. Good luck!
Hey mare, so this may sound weird but I massage my arm as soon as I feel a sore throat. My grandma taught me that remedy years ago. And it works. Literally in seconds …. But when I stop massaging sometimes it comes back. Strange. But sounds like pressure point stuff. I never looked it up but I just trusted my grandmas advice . She raised 8 kids. Lol
I massage my right arm. Forearm, wrist all the way up to my elbow. Hope it works for u. Lol
OH and I forgot to mention one more thing that helps me sometimes. my cousin use to tell me if I have a sore throat I could be experiencing communication problems (blocked chakra) since the throat is the communication chakra. She use to give me a stone to carry, meditate and tell me to release(communicate) what I was holding in. I usually got sore throats after holding my tongue at work…. Lol Weird advice I know but it works. Try it out.
Cecilia
Hi there! Yes, I have heard that same thing – that a blockage in the throat chakra could mean that there is something I want to say but am not saying…like I’m not “speaking my highest truth,” as it were. I have come at it from this angle too, but I really cannot think of what held feelings I might be preventing from coming to the surface. But maybe I need to carry a stone. That could be a good idea. Any suggestions for which stone I should choose?
Hmmm, I will definitely give that a whirl. I will try anything at this point! It is Day 9 with a sore throat now, and I can almost not take it anymore!
Had a similar situation myself a few weeks ago. Sore throat lasted for days. I did get some relief from ravensara massaged near sinuses and frangonia oil rubbed on throat. Took a bath with frankincense. Massaged with eucalyptus and lemon and clove in rich fragrance free cream. Finally gave in after two weeks and took a Zpak
Hey there! I love these ideas! By the way…what is a “Zpak?” Can you enlighten me?
Throw “everything” at it. Try several garlic shooters but be warned that you might throw up if you’re carrying a lot of mucus.
Garlic Shooter: Squeeze the juice of one lemon, toss in one clove of pressed garlic, and throw it down your throat as fast as you can. Repeat as many times as you can tolerate it. More coming…copy paste copy paste…
Try Robin’s Super Tonic:
1 cup each of fresh Garlic, Onion, Ginger, Horseradish Root and 1/4 cup habanero peppers.
Blend all together using a Vitamix or other power blender. Put the “goop” in quart jar and fill the rest of jar with apple cider vinegar (with the “mother” pulp). You can use it right away, but I shake it for 2 weeks then strain it through unbleached muslin cloth and use the remaining “tincture” juice. This sounds bad, but it is really does the job.
Do some serious oil pulling:
http://www.mydoterra.com/potentnature/
Put a couple drops of fractionated coconut oil or any carrier oil on a spoon with a couple drops of doTERRA’s OnGuard essential oil blend and then a drop of Oregano essential oil and start swishing it around your mouth. It feels like hardly anything is in your mouth at first, but
after 15-20 minutes there is quite a lot. Some find it easiest to
do while in the shower. Spit it out when done. The oil
pulling seems to alleviate whatever was going on. It is so simple. Do this every day.
Try some Peppermint Beadlets
http://www.doterra.com/tools/documents/PeppermintBeadlets_details.pdf
Try some Metholated Vapor Balm:
http://www.herbalessentialsplus.com/product/menthol-vapor-balm-salvebr
This is one for rubbing under your nose to open sinuses, and on your chest to decongest or on your throat chakra. It also feels good as a rub for sore muscles. (I put it on my kids chests when they’re asleep and on their spine when they’re awake.)
Ingredients
1/2 ounce (3t) peppermint oil
20 drops doTERRA Breathe
1/2 ounce (3t) eucalyptus oil
1/2 ounce (3t) wintergreen oil
4 oz extra virgin cold pressed olive oil
1/2 ounce beeswax
Heat the olive oil on low in a crock pot. Stir in beeswax until melted. Add oils when it’s cooler so that it retains its properties. Test the consistency by putting a drop onto a plate, waiting for 30 seconds, and then test with your finger to see if it’s the consistency of vaseline. If it is too runny, add more beeswax. If it’s too hard, use less beeswax. Pour into jar.
My OnGuard blend is awesome for sore throats! The single essential oils contained in On Guard are: Wild Orange, Clove Bud, Cinnamon Bark, Eucalyptus radiata, and Rosemary. The combination of these potent oils create a serious immune boosting punch that can both prevent an illness to take hold in the body or help one heal much more quickly from an acute attack.
There is an OnGuard hand soap, household cleaner, toothpaste, oil blend and throat drops.
OnGuard helps with my allergies, headaches, you name it!
Hi Erika,
Thanks very much! How would you use the OnGuard blend for a sore throat, specifically?
Here’s a great one, always helps me a lot – salt water gargle but add a couple drops of Vitamin D. Also, honey with chopped garlic. Hope you feel better soon!