Natural Soothers for Sore, Scratchy Throats

Dec. 10, 2011— -- Dry air, colds, flu, screaming about the lousy weather -- all of it can all give you a scratchy throat this time of year. But there's no need to grab that bottle of neon-colored, tastes-like-Drano throat spray.

"Natural cures really are good remedies for sore throats," says Dr. Benjamin Asher, a member of the Committee on Complementary and Integrative Medicine at the American Academy of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery and an expert on integrative medicine. In fact, he says, many natural sore-throat remedies can be made right at home. Which means you don't even have to expose your tender tonsils to frigid outdoor air.

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Here are three ways to cope the next time your throat's feeling sore.

Coat Your Throat

The standard remedy of a tablespoon of honey in warm water with lemon is a good natural remedy, says Dr. Asher.

"You want to look for things that coat your throat," he adds, because they soothe irritation. He also recommends slippery elm lozenges and Organic Throat Coat tea from Traditional Medicinals, which contains the anti-inflammatory herb licorice.

Rinse and Relieve

Gargling with salt water or other solutions helps cut down on sore throats caused by irritants like dry air or allergies.

In an Indian study of patients with postoperative tracheal tubes, gargling with a mixture of one teaspoon of licorice in eight ounces of water led to less-severe sore throats than those experienced by patients who gargled with ordinary water. The licorice mixture can be used as either a drink or as a gargle. (You can find licorice syrups or powders at stores that sell natural remedies, but make sure they contain real licorice.) And Dr. Asher adds that gargling with Bragg's organic apple cider vinegar is an effective treatment as well.

"It seems to be cleansing," he says, "and it's not as harsh as other forms of vinegar."

Another idea: In The Big Doctor's Book of Home Remedies (Rodale, 2009), Thomas Gossel suggests adding a spoonful of bourbon or whiskey to a glass of warm water and gargling with that. It numbs the throat and is soothing at the same time.

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