3 ways to soothe sore or scratchy throats....

Today's post: Thursday, 12-18-2008

Long ago I stopped buying sugary throat lozenges and over the counter cough syrups.

Since I found they simply had no effect in me AT ALL, I decided it was foolish to spend any money on them.

And, because I got pneumonia once with an all night cough that hurt and kept me awake, I discovered that there is a prescription for that kind of cough that turns it off – and does so safely if you take only the amount prescribed.

I also learned that an extremely bad sore throat that you can see in the mirror has white or yellow pus deposits on your throat and an extremely red color means you very likely have strep throat. Since, if left untreated, you can give strep throat to others; & it can blind you, significantly damage your heart, or kill you if left untreated, if there’s a chance a bad sore throat is strep, go to the doctor or nurse practitioner and have it checked out. So far, we have antibiotics that will turn it off. Don’t risk the things strep can cause. Get rid of it if you get it.

It’s also true that some medications can cause a dry, unproductive cough – ACE inhibitors for one. And, if you have chest congestion, you’ll likely have a productive cough to clear it out enough you can breathe.

However, most sore throats, scratchy throats, and dry coughs tend to be caused by a cold or other upper respiratory viral infection.


Those you CAN hammer into submission. And the symptom relief can be FAST.

You can eat right and take certain supplements and treat the people around you well and learn to manage stress well. Those things will boost your immune system and you’ll get fewer of these viruses and get over the ones you do get more quickly. Fresh fruit with natural vitamin C; 30 to 45 mg daily of zinc but NOT more on a daily basis; the herbal supplement Cat’s Claw; 500 mg a day or more of vitamin C; some mushroom extracts, & panax ginseng, even in small amounts all tend to strengthen your immune system.

(I do all of the above except the mushroom extracts and get few of these illnesses myself.)

But what if you have a scratchy throat or a persistent dry cough or a mild or moderately bad sore throat anyway?

Here are three things that DO work.

1. Hit the blasted things directly with zinc. Many lozenges are available that contain zinc. But many, if not most, of them have sugar or artificial sweeteners; & many people hate the taste.

I’ve found a superior solution is to pour out the contents of one of the 30 mg capsules of zinc citrate (that I get from the Solgar company at my local health food store) into a spoon. Then it put that as far back on my tongue as I can without gagging and dump it then lick off any remaining off of the spoon. After that, I wait a few seconds and then swallow.

And, after that I try not to drink or eat anything for a bit to give the zinc a chance to stay right on the sore or scratchy part of my throat long enough to do some good.

Many times I’ve found that a mild sore throat will disappear never to return if I do this.

The other thing that’s nice about this way of applying zinc is that there are no sugar or artificial sweeteners in it; AND it tastes like unflavored flour -- NOT harsh and metallic like the zinc lozenges I once tried.

2. I’ve also sometimes gotten a scratchy throat that triggers a dry cough. Sometimes this simply stops by itself in a minute or two. So I always try just waiting a bit first.

But sometimes the cough persists and the cough itself makes my throat scratchy at that point. And it is hard to stop coughing which makes it all worse etc.

If this happens when I’m home, I try the zinc citrate powder treatment first. That does sometimes work.

But I found a near miraculous product that I use at home if the zinc fails to stop it. And I use it first away from home since I don’t have the zinc with me.

It works so fast and well, it’s almost like turning a switch with a slight delay of about five seconds.

The herb slippery elm provides a temporary and soothing coating if you can apply some to the right part of the inside of your throat.

I read that and realized that there might be a slippery elm product that would soothe the initial irritation enough that you’d stop coughing and then avoid making it worse and keep happening.

There IS one!

Whole Foods and many health food stores carry it. A company called Thayers makes a slippery elm lozenge. The package is quite small; but once you open it, it can get dust in it if you keep it in your pocket so I wrap mine with a small plastic sandwich bag and a rubber band to keep the dust out and keep it at all times in my pants pocket.

I hate to mess with unwrapping it, so I always try waiting a bit if I get a sudden dry cough or scratchy throat. But if it persists after that or starts out bad enough, I unwrap my Thayers and take out 2 lozenges and chew them up and swallow them with no added water.

The first time I tried it, I felt nothing unusual at first and the scratchy throat still seemed to be there, so I thought nothing was happening. About 2 seconds later though, I was astounded. Suddenly, the sensation of a scratchy throat was so thoroughly gone it was as if it had never happened at all !! And it never came back.

Except for the times I can tell I’ve come down with a chest cold too, it’s had a 100 percent success rate every time I’ve used it since.

That beats the sugary do-nothing lozenges like a drum !!

I give this product a 5 star RAVE review and recommend it highly to you!

3. The one drawback is that a moderately severe and persistent sore throat seems to override the Thayers lozenges. And I hate to waste them since they work so well otherwise.

I did see an herbal tea at Whole Foods called Throat Coat that sounded similar; but decided to pass on trying my Thayers for sore throats further or trying that tea.

I just did the zinc treatment and waited for the sore throat to go away.

In some cases where I had a longer-lasting, moderately sore throat, it seems I may have missed out on a third method that DOES work for such sore throats.

I found a marvelous article yesterday in Wednesday’s Early to Rise email.

Here it is:

"This article appears courtesy of Early to Rise's Total Health Breakthroughs, offering alternative solutions for mind, body and soul. For a complimentary subscription,
visit http://www.totalhealthbreakthroughs.com ."

“No Need for Lozenges

By Suzanne Richardson

I hate licorice. So when my mother put a steaming mug of tea in front of me that smelled horribly of the stuff, I wrinkled my nose.

"Drink up," she said. "It'll make your throat feel better."

Traveling to Montana to visit my folks, I'd picked up a bad cold - complete with a raging sore throat.

Dutiful daughter that I am, I drank the tea. And after a few sips, my throat felt better. After I'd finished two mugs, it was like I had no sore throat at all.

What is in this? I wondered.

My nose didn't mislead me. Turns out the tea's primary ingredient is organic licorice root. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) website concurs that this is commonly used to soothe sore throats.

But that's not all licorice root can do. According to Dr. Ray Sahelian (www.RaySahelian.com ) , an expert in supplements, "Licorice has compounds that can enhance the immune system, provide antioxidant support, support healthy levels of cholesterol, and thin the blood." He cautions that large amounts of the herb can elevate blood pressure.

If you get a cold this winter, forget sugar-filled lozenges. Instead, try a licorice root brew to ease your symptoms. The tea that worked so quickly for me is called "Organic Throat Coat" by Traditional Medicinals. But if you type "licorice root tea" into Google, you'll get plenty of other options.”

X*X*X*X*X*X*

My local Whole Foods Market carries this herbal tea by Traditional Medicinals. So next time my wife or I have that kind of sore throat I’ll try it out.

Mercifully we don’t and likely won’t need it often. But I’m glad to know it seems to be effective.