remedies for a sore throat Saltwater. Mix 1 teaspoon of table salt in 1 pint of warm or room-temperature water, says Dr. Gossel. That's just enough salt to mimic the body's natural saline content, so you'll find it very soothing. Use every hour or so, but don't swallow the liquid if you're concerned about your sodium intake.
Chamomile tea. Colorado nutrition counselor Eleonore Blaurock-Busch, Ph.D., president and director of Trace Minerals International, a clinical chemistry laboratory in Boulder, favors warm chamomile tea to relieve irritated membranes. Steep 1 teaspoon dried chamomile in 1 cup of hot water. Strain. Let it cool to lukewarm and gargle as needed. Diluted lemon juice. Dr. Blaurock-Busch also suggests a little lemon juice squeezed into a large glass of lukewarm water. Spirits. "Sometimes I add a spoonful of bourbon or whiskey to a large glass of warm water and use that to gargle," says Dr. Gossel. "It's just enough alcohol to help numb a sore throat." Humidify the room. Sometimes a sore throat upon awakening is caused by sleeping with your mouth open. Ordinarily, your nose moistens air headed for your throat and lungs. But breathing through your mouth bypasses that step, leaving your throat parched and irritated. New Jersey otolaryngologist Jason Surow, M.D., recommends a bedroom humidifier to get the environment nice and humid. "Use a bedside model even if your heating system has its own humidifier," he says. "The built-in units just don't do a good enough job, especially if you have a forced-air heating system, which is very drying in itself." Get up a head of steam. In the face of a worse-than-normal dry or sore throat, supplement your bedroom humidifier with steam inhalations, says Dr. Surow. Run very hot water in the bathroom basin to build up steam. With the water running, lean over the sink, drape a towel over your head to capture some of the steam, and inhale deeply through the mouth and nose for 5 to 10 minutes. Repeat several times a day if necessary. Open your nose. If part of the reason you're breathing through your mouth is that your nose is clogged, says Dr. Surow, open it with an over-the-counter decongestant nasal spray, such as Afrin. But limit its use to a day or two. And follow directions carefully, he cautions, because these sprays can become addictive. Down some aspirin. It doesn't occur to most people that a sore throat is a pain like any other physical discomfort, says Dr. Gossel. Aspirin, acetaminophen, or ibuprofen will effectively deaden the discomfort. (No one under age 21 should be given aspirin because of the risk of Reye's syndrome, a life-threatening neurological disease.) Increase your fluid intake. Taking in as much fluid as you can will help hydrate your parched throat tissues, says Dr. Surow. Although it doesn't really matter what you drink, he says, here are a few things you might want to avoid. Thick, milky drinks coat your throat and may produce mucus, making you cough and further irritating tissues; orange juice may burn an already inflamed throat; caffeine-containing beverages have a counterproductive diuretic effect. Smiles from the LR --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ Access the Recipes And More list archives at: http://www.mail-archive.com/recipesandmore%40googlegroups.com/ Visit the group home page at: http://groups.google.com/group/RecipesAndMore -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
