How to quickly cure a sore throat at home in an adult

How to treat a sore throat at home - treatment at home: safe and effective remedies

Sore throat is an inflammation of the tonsils, which is infectious in nature. The virus can begin to progress due to the slightest hypothermia: cold drinks, ice cream, air and other reasons. The causative agents can be a variety of bacteria and viruses: staphylococci, streptococci, pneumococci. The disease develops both against the background of ARVI and independently, without other disorders in the body.

The onset of pathological processes is indicated by a sore throat, which over time develops into severe pain. In addition, the patient’s body temperature rises, lymph nodes enlarge, weakness and nausea appear. If the disease is noticed at the first stage of development, you can do without medical help - traditional medicine offers many remedies to eliminate the disease.

What symptoms bother a person?

The main symptoms of sore throat in adults:

Aches in the joints, heaviness in the muscles.
Inflammation of the lymph nodes.
Redness of the throat, tonsils, uvula and back wall are inflamed, the color is bright.
Body temperature, depending on the type of disease, can rise to 38-39 degrees.
Acute pain, much stronger with normal inflammation of the mucous membrane of the throat, can be observed both when swallowing and in a relaxed state.
General deterioration in health due to infection, fatigue and malaise.
The appearance of plaque or ulcers on the tonsils, the formation of follicles, a dense coating on the root of the tongue.

All these symptoms signal the presence of inflammation caused by microorganisms, which progresses in the pharynx.

Medicines for treating sore throat at home

The basis of treatment for this disease is the use of antibacterial drugs (primarily antibiotics). Usually preference is given to penicillin, as well as its semisynthetic derivatives. This may be phenoxymethylpenicillin, ampicillin, ampiox.

The drugs are prescribed for oral use, the dosage depends on the patient’s body weight, the severity of the disease and the risk of various complications. Usually 4-5 days are enough for the body temperature to normalize and the patient’s general condition to improve. However, antibiotics need to be taken for another 3-5 days in order to ensure that the acute infectious focus is eliminated.

How to treat a sore throat at home

There is a proven treatment regimen that includes certain medications. If you follow all the instructions, you can get rid of the disease relatively quickly.

Remember that all medications have contraindications, so they should be prescribed by your doctor. Self-administration of potent medications can cause the development of resistance in pathogenic microorganisms and, as a result, complicate further treatment of sore throat.

To relieve symptoms, drugs such as Analgin, Aspirin, paracetamol, Citramon are used. One drug from this list is used, but not more than 5 days.
Antibiotics. Despite the fact that they can cause many side effects, taking them for sore throat is necessary. As a rule, they are prescribed by a specialist for lacunar and follicular tonsillitis. Common antibiotics are Ampiox, Tsifran, Axacillin, Macropen. If severe complications are observed, injectable drugs are used - Penicillin, Cefazolin.
Bed rest. It must be observed not only at the time of high temperature, but also in the next few days. Remaining rest is mandatory, since sore throat often affects many organs negatively. This point must be supplemented with plenty of fluids. For this, fruit drinks, jelly, and juices are used. By drinking fluids, toxic products will be eliminated from the body much faster.
Following a special diet. When a person has a sore throat, food should be such that it does not irritate the mucous membrane of the larynx. Cooked food should not be spicy, hot or overly salty. It should also be soft and liquid. At the same time, the products should contain many vitamins and minerals. Doctors often recommend eating chicken broth soup, mashed potatoes and vegetables, steamed cutlets and fish, porridge with water or milk.
Sulfonamide drugs. If we talk about how to quickly cure a sore throat, then it is simply impossible not to mention these drugs. Biseptol or Sulfalen are often prescribed. Medicines are used for catarrhal sore throat, independently, and are almost always only additions to antibiotics. The instructions describe the dosage of the drug, which is calculated based on the patient’s age.
Aerosol preparations. To quickly get rid of the disease, it is recommended to irrigate the throat several times a day with the following aerosols - Kameton, Ingalipt, Yox, Kolustan. Medicines have antimicrobial and analgesic effects.
It is recommended to take antihistamines - Diphenhydramine, Suprastin. They relieve throat swelling well.

Such measures, with any method of treatment, make it possible to eliminate a sore throat much faster and go through the recovery process. Therefore, doctors believe that it is better to take sick leave and rest at home for a week.

Traditional methods of treating tonsillitis

At home, you can carry out quite a lot of manipulations to stabilize your well-being with a sore throat.
It is important to understand that only catarrhal, that is, the mildest form of tonsillitis, can be treated at home. With the development of follicular, lacunar or purulent tonsillitis, therapy must be carried out under strict medical supervision, sometimes in an inpatient setting. Traditional methods of treating acute tonsillitis involve the use of gargling solutions, various compresses, inhalations and ointments for treating the tonsils. All recipes are strictly verified and tested by many years of experience, so if used in a timely and correct manner, they help cure a sore throat even at home.

Gargling should be started at the first sign of illness. Effective rinses reduce local inflammation and clear plaque from the tonsils. As a warming procedure that increases blood circulation in the neck and chest of a patient with tonsillitis, compresses are used, which can further reduce the inflammatory process. However, their use is not recommended at high temperatures, as well as for lacunar and purulent tonsillitis.

Folk remedies for sore throat

The main condition for treatment with alternative medicine methods is the absence of allergic reactions to all components included in the formulations. The following folk remedies are considered highly effective:

Lemon and honey. The juice squeezed from 1 fruit is stirred in 350 ml of warm water. Salt (1/4 tsp) and honey (3 tsp) are added to the resulting drink. Take twice a day.
Honey, butter and milk. In 200 ml of warm boiled milk, you need to dissolve butter and honey (1 tablespoon of each ingredient). It is allowed to replace regular butter with cocoa butter. The frequency of reception is not limited.
Lemon juice and ginger. 1 tsp. Pour ginger crushed to a powder into boiling water (700 ml) and simmer over low heat for 10 - 12 minutes. Dissolve 4 tsp in the cooled broth. honey, add ground black pepper (1 pinch). The resulting volume of medication is divided into 3 doses and consumed throughout the day. Duration of treatment is up to 5 - 7 days.
Cranberry tea. 2 tsp. berries ground with sugar are poured with a glass of boiling water. Use warm up to 3 times a day. This method can also reduce the temperature.

These drugs make it possible to alleviate the course of the disease, since they have antiviral, antibacterial, and restorative effects. They help activate the immune system and speed up recovery. Treatment of any type of sore throat in children with folk recipes requires consultation with the treating pediatrician.

Rinse recipes

In order to reduce fibrinous plaque on the tonsils, various gargling solutions are used. In addition, many rinses help reduce the symptoms of pain, which greatly interferes with the patient’s swallowing.

There are several effective recipes for preparing rinse solutions:

Mix boiled warm water (0.5 cups) with 100 grams of chopped fresh garlic. Leave the mixture covered tightly for 6 hours, then strain. Dilute the resulting tincture with boiled water - add 1 teaspoon of tincture to a glass of water and rinse frequently.
Mix the juice from fresh Kalanchoe leaves in equal proportions with boiled water at room temperature and gargle with this mixture 2-3 times a day.
A glass of boiling water is poured into a mixture of 1 teaspoon of dry calendula, 1 teaspoon of plantain and 1 teaspoon of wormwood; all this must be simmered over low heat for 15 minutes. Then the broth is filtered, cooled to room temperature and used for gargling every hour.

However, the most common homemade rinse recipes have always been rinsing with a solution of soda, salt and iodine (a teaspoon of soda and a pinch of salt are poured into a glass of boiling water, after cooling, 3 drops of iodine are added), as well as rinsing with diluted calendula tincture and eucalyptus infusion, which is prepared from 20 grams of dry herbs and a glass of boiling water. The mixture is infused, filtered and used for rinsing.

Gargling for the treatment of sore throat in adults

Gargling - this method of treatment plays one of the main roles in the healing process. Thanks to daily rinsing, all harmful bacteria and pus are washed out of the mouth and larynx. Pain in the throat also decreases, resulting in an improvement in the overall condition of the body.

a mixture of natural beet juice and table vinegar is considered a unique remedy against germs and infections. This solution, when rinsed, has an anti-inflammatory effect and relieves pain when swallowing.
Honey water is good for gargling (warm drinking water and a few spoons of honey), mix, use for gargling several times a day;
medicinal mixture: squeeze the juice out of carrots and add a few cloves of garlic, grated on a fine grater. Take the mixture before meals for two or three days;
treat inflamed tonsils with a mixture of onion and honey. Grate a small onion, squeeze out the juice, add a teaspoon of natural honey to it. mix everything thoroughly. The healing composition is ready!
medicinal mixture: a teaspoon of honey and the same amount of aloe juice, mix. Take several times a day before meals;
Beetroot, which is rich in vitamins and microelements, has a beneficial effect on the body and on the source of inflammation. Squeeze fresh beet juice or boil it in a small amount of water; gargle well with natural juice or beet broth. Beets perfectly eliminate swelling on the mucous membranes of the throat, pain and are effective against purulent phenomena in the tonsils;
Warm honey-milk composition is a well-known way to get rid of sore throat, inflammation in the larynx, colds and coughs. Dissolve a little honey in a glass of warm milk and add butter for a more softening effect.

An important condition is the optimal temperature of the prepared solution: it should be within 35 - 40 degrees. It is not recommended to consume drinks or food after the end of the treatment session. Their reception is allowed half an hour after the procedure.

Truths and myths regarding folk remedies

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Popular recipes for home therapy for certain diseases are common, which sometimes cause confusion: how can this remedy help you recover? But many “home” healers foam at the mouth to prove the high effectiveness of the promoted remedies, and even appeal to medical sources that supposedly prove the presence of such effectiveness.

In the case of acute tonsillitis, the most controversial remedies for home treatment today are kerosene, Coca-Cola and ice cream. It’s worth mentioning right away that evidence-based medicine does not recognize any of the above-mentioned remedies as a panacea against tonsillitis, and all those positive effects that the sources that promote them say, without the parallel use of drug therapy, can cause absolutely nothing but side effects.

Any therapy for sore throats, even carried out at home using traditional recipes, must be agreed upon with the attending physician, who will be able to correctly correct it. The use of dubious means for treatment can lead to a worsening of the condition and the occurrence of severe complications, so you should think several times before starting such experiments.

Compresses

Moist compresses for warming the chest and neck are very effective in treating sore throat. They help stop the development of the inflammatory process, reduce sore throat and increase blood circulation. An important condition for using compresses is normal body temperature (36.6?). At a late stage of disease progression, when ulcers appear on the tonsils, warm compresses cannot be used.

The compress can be applied to the throat, excluding the thyroid gland area. A cloth soaked in a specially prepared solution is applied to the skin. Then it is covered with plastic film. For insulation, everything is covered with a layer of flannel, and then tied with a warm scarf.

There are many recipes for medicinal and warming compresses that can be used to treat sore throat.

Cabbage leaf with honey also warms well and stops the inflammatory process. In order for the cabbage leaf to become a little softer, you need to pour boiling water over it and leave for a couple of minutes. after this, the warm sheet should be blotted with water, greased with honey and applied to the neck with this side. Cover the top with film and tie it with a scarf.
A compress from boiled potatoes is prepared as follows: wash the potatoes and boil them with their skins on, then knead them, add a few drops of an alcohol solution of iodine and a spoonful of any vegetable oil. The resulting mass is placed in a gauze bag. When the temperature of the potato becomes tolerable for the skin, it is applied to the throat and wrapped around the neck. This compress can be left on even overnight.
An alcohol compress is easy to prepare. To do this, you need to take 70% medical alcohol and dilute it with cold boiled water in a 1:1 ratio. To achieve a greater effect, take not simple alcohol, but an alcohol tincture with herbs. You can drop a few drops of some essential oil there, for example, eucalyptus or lavender. This compress should be used with caution by those with sensitive skin to avoid getting burned.
A compress of raw potatoes with vinegar is prepared as follows: you need to grate 2-3 medium-sized tubers on a fine grater, add 1 tablespoon of 6% vinegar, place it in a thick fabric bag and apply it to your throat. This remedy perfectly relieves inflammation.

Children can apply compresses 1-2 times a day, and it is better to do this before bed. At the same time, it is desirable that your feet are also warm. Adults can apply warm compresses to a sore throat for 3-4 hours, taking two-hour breaks in between.

Use of antibiotics

Medical products (drugs, medicines, vitamins, medicines) are mentioned for informational purposes.
We do not recommend using them without a doctor's prescription. We recommend reading: “Why can’t you take medications without a doctor’s prescription?” Seeing a doctor in case of acute tonsillitis is necessary for diagnosis and development of a treatment plan. In the case of self-treatment, you can skip bacterial tonsillitis, which is most often caused by opportunistic microorganisms, which can only be combated with rational antibacterial therapy. To determine the type of tonsillitis pathogen, a smear is taken from the mucous membrane of the patient’s pharynx or tonsils with culture for flora and sensitivity to antibiotics.

Based on external manifestations, it is difficult for a patient to distinguish a bacterial sore throat from a viral one. Most often, with viral forms, tonsillitis occurs as part of a general inflammatory process and has other symptoms - runny nose, cough, etc. Typically, most cases of bacterial tonsillitis are caused by streptococci. Streptococcal infection manifests itself in the human body with a body temperature above 38 degrees, enlarged and painful lymph nodes, and hyperemia of the pharyngeal tonsils. If these signs are present, most likely the patient suffers from bacterial tonsillitis, and he needs antibiotics for treatment.

In the treatment of bacterial sore throat, antibacterial drugs from the group of semi-synthetic penicillins, for example, Amoxiclav or Amoxicillin, are effective, but if the patient cannot tolerate them (he has a severe allergy or often develops severe dysbacteriosis when using such drugs), then macrolide antibiotics are used - Sumamed, Clarithromycin, or cephalosporins - ciprofloxacin, levofloxacin. However, the choice of an antibacterial drug should be made only by a specialist, with the selection of the appropriate dosage, frequency of administration and form of the drug.

For bacterial sore throat, therapy with antibacterial drugs usually lasts 10 days. Improvement usually occurs already on the 3rd day of taking antibiotics, but it is absolutely impossible to stop taking them - the point of antibiotic therapy is to completely destroy a specific pathogen, and if therapy is interrupted, the pathogen's resistance to this drug will appear and a sore throat may develop with renewed vigor.

Inhalations

For sore throat, inhalation is an effective method of treating a sore throat - during inhalation, tissues are heated, medicinal extracts go directly to the site of the disease. Home inhalations are often carried out on the basis of herbal decoctions; below are several sample recipes.

Prepare a decoction of dry St. John's wort and chamomile - pour 3 tablespoons of herbs into a liter of water, bring to a boil, cool - you can get a burn from the steam. To enhance the effect, add a few drops of any coniferous essential oils. Inhalation is carried out as in the previous recipe - for 20 minutes.
Take 2 tablespoons of crushed dry chamomile, mint, sage, pour in a liter of warm boiled water. Bring the mixture to a boil over low heat, then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly. The patient bends over a vessel with a decoction, his head is covered with a towel. You need to breathe through your mouth - this is how steam with healing extracts reaches the affected areas.

It is important to know that inhalations are contraindicated at elevated temperatures; they are usually carried out at the last stage of treatment, as an additional procedure to restore the mucous membrane of the throat.