Sore throats are so common in winter, that most of us just gargle with salt water and try to persevere until they go away . According to E.N.T Specialists, Cold and flu viruses are are the reasons for 90% of all sore throats. A five day cold can leave a painful sore throat that lingers for up to two weeks.
Sore throat is a bacterial infection, that needs to be treated with antibiotics . You can take pain relievers like aspirin or ibuprofen as per package instructions, which can ease the ache . This can reduce the throat pain and inflammation within 48 hours and make throat cells more resistant to viral attack.
Daily dose of Vitamin A has been found to heal and strengthen throat membranes and boost production of virus-fighting white blood cells as much as 53%.
As a home remedy, it will be effective if you gargle your throat with a glass of warm water mixed with 1 teaspoon salt after every meal. Also, make sure that you drink only boiled water, which is either hot or lukewarm. When you do these two things, the warmth is soothing and may speed healing.
Drinking weak tea with a teaspoon each of honey and lemon juice may help. I have tried this and found helpful.
You can also drink pepper water(rasam) which is made out of tamarind, pepper, zeera & garlic . Your throat will really feel good. Or you can go for vegetable soups, something warm and soothing for the throat.
Another good drink to minimise your throat pain and which will help in recovering from sore throat is hot milk with two more ingredients. Just boil the milk very hot and pour it in a glass. Add to it half a teaspoon of turmeric powder(haldi) and half a teaspoon of black pepper powder . Mix well and drink hot! This will be soothing to your throat and you will feel much better . This is one of my home remedies I resort to when I get a sore throat .
Okay, after all your antibiotics and home remedies if your sore throat still lingers for more than a month, it is time for you to go to your doctor to check for a chronic sinus infection.