How to End a Sore Throat Fast

Acute pharyngitis is inflammation of the throat that causes sore throat, cough and difficulty swallowing. There is no specific drug for the condition, but there just may be a couple of herbs.

Over 80% of cases of pharyngitis are caused by viruses. In kids, it’s closer to 95%. There is no pharmaceutical treatment, though antibiotics are often inappropriately prescribed.

Andrographis is a herb that has been traditionally used in Asia for acute respiratory infections. It is both anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial.

This double-blind study gave 60 adults with sore throats from acute pharyngitis with a pain score of greater than 5 out of 10 either an andrographis throat spray or a chamomile throat spray used as a control. Each person in the study sprayed 2 spritzes 3 times a day for 5 days. The choice of chamomile was deliberate, since it is known to work as a treatment for sore throat.

Though acute pharyngitis will usually resolve on its own, it can take anywhere from less than a week to 10 days: that’s a long time to have a cough and sore throat. But chamomile reduced the duration of sore throat to only 2.6 days, while the andrographis reduced it to an even better 2.4.

In both groups, the severity of the sore throat, the coughing and the difficulty swallowing improved significantly from day 1. 66.7% of chamomile users were responders on day 1; 80% of andrographis users were. The average time to response was 2.5 days on chamomile and 1.9 days on andrographis. The average time to be totally free of pain was 3.7 days with chamomile and 3.4 with andrographis. Redness and swelling decreased significantly in both groups.

Both herbal treatments were safe with zero adverse events.

This study reinforces the evidence that chamomile spray effectively treats cough and sore throat caused by acute pharyngitis. But it also introduces andrographis spray as an even better treatment, a result that adds to the huge body of evidence that andrographis is a very effective treatment for upper respiratory infections, cold, flu and sore throat (PLoS One 2017;12(8):e0181780).

Drug Discov Ther. 2023 Oct 11;doi:10.5582/ddt.2023.01053.

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For much more on preventing and treating respiratory infections, colds and sore throats naturally, see our book The Family Naturopathic Encyclopedia.

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