Contagious in nature, sore throat is often the first signal our body gives in reaction to the infection which has entered our body. Pharyngitis or sore throat is a condition with local and systemic symptoms. Here are some home remedies you can follow to get rid of this condition:
1.Gargles: Our grandmother’s favourite cure for any sore throat infection, gargles are the best and most effective way of curing sore throat. This is because a glass of lukewarm water with a pinch of salt will help increase the blood flow to pharyngeal region which will eventually wash off the infection. Once the infection is washed off, the edema associated with this infection will also reduce. Other than this, the mucus, which often toughens up at a time like this will loosen and get out of the body easily.
2.Warm liquids: Teas such as cinnamon tea, ginger tulsi tea, lemon honey tea or simply a cup of desi masala chai can do wonders for your throat. As the throat is choked due to infection, warm liquids can help relax this area.
3. Soft diet: Eating foods lighter on your stomach will be helpful. Along with this, foods which won’t hurt while going down your throat will also be extremely useful. You can steam an apple and consume it with honey, or have mashed khichdi or dal with crushed vegetables for best results.
4. Steam: You can add a cough suppressant in your steam and inhale it for speedy recovery. This will open up your nasal and throat area and help you breathe properly.
5.Throat sootheners: During a sore throat condition, our throat tends to become dry and hence causes numbness in the throat area. Taking cough lozenges, menthol or eucalyptus oil lozenges can help you heal your throat faster.
6. Local heat: Sore throat also brings with it pain. There are times when our throat gets spasms of pain or while we eat a hard food, our throat starts to pain. At times like these, you can apply a heating pad or a hot towel around your neck give relief to the delicate aching area.
7. Analgesics antipyretics: Any medication should be taken only after confirming with your family physician. If you do not suffer from any allergies from over the counter an analgesics (NSAIDS), then taking them to bring down fever is useful and should be done right away.
8.What to avoid: While sore throat maybe a very common problem for many with the change in season, we tend to stick to our everyday habits even at such times. Refrain from smoking, drinking caffeinated drinks such as cold drinks, consuming oily and fried foods and exercising. This is because while exercising will exert your body and will not let it heal faster, consumption of foods and liquids with excess of processed items will end up harming your throat more than you think. This is because it will lead to dehydrating, drying and irritating your throat when it should be healing itself.
9. Avoid going to public places as the infection can increase because, during the flu season, cold, cough and fever are extremely contagious and can worsen your condition.
10. Get medical attention if our sore throat lasts for more than 5 days, your neck starts to swell or you get body pains and cannot handle the aches.
