How to treat a sore throat yourself
Everyday sore throats usually last between 12 to 72-ish hours. You can not get rid of the swollen red throat tissues permanently on your own, (you have to wait for your body to do that for you) but you can make it feel better sometimes until it is gone.
A lot of things that seem to make your throat feel better short term (e.g. hot chocolate, soup, tea, orange juice, popsicle, etc...) can actually end up making the pain worse in the long run if they irritate the tissues, you just can't tell while it is feeling better for a bit if you are making it worse or not.
For instance, a long time ago a doctor told me to gargle with water and a tiny bit of hydrogen peroxide in it, assuming it would kill the virus and thus lead to a better feeling throat. HP does kill stuff, which probably makes the sore throat last not as long, but it doesn't help much with the pain. (And it tastes Horrible!)
How to treat a sore throat yourself
- gargle with warm, salty water (children should not try this)
- drink plenty of water.
- eat cool or soft foods.
- avoid smoking or smoky places.
- suck ice cubes, ice lollies or hard sweets – but do not give young children anything small and hard to suck because of the risk of choking.
- rest.
The science behind why warm salt water is supposed to work:
When a part of the body is hurt, chemicals are released to dilate the smallest blood vessels in that area. This widening of the vessels functions to increase blood flow which also allows fluid containing infection-fighting cells to leak into the hurt area (this is known as swelling).
Salt water rinses reduce swelling through osmosis. As the salt water rinse bathes the swollen tissue there is a much higher concentration of salt than that contained within the tissue itself, it’s time for osmosis to do what it does best (restore balance).
Osmosis functions to equalize the concentration of salt on both sides of the tissue cell membrane. Since salt molecules are too large to pass through the permeable membrane, it has no choice but to allow some of the excess fluid to leak out. Less fluid inside the tissue means less pressure. Less pressure means less pain.
Other usual antipain things like anti-inflammatory meds (Advil, Aleve, Tylenol etc...) might help the sore throat feel better, but they don’t make it last a shorter amount of time. Sucking on a chewable Vitamin C tablet sometimes makes the throat feel better for a little while. And of course the more water you drink and the more sleep you get the less you will suffer overall with the sore throat and the nose/chest problems that usually follow it.