I would drink plenty of water, even if it hurts to swallow.

Plain ole OTC painkillers work for me, but they don't for my wife.

Well, eat what hurts the least. I'd recommend some bland soup, warmed but not heated too hot. A broth, maybe? Did you get MAXIMUM strength Chloroseptic lozenges? Those are the only things that ever help my sore throats. It's important that they are lozenges and that they are maximum strength. The spray is totally useless, IMO, I don't know why there's even a market for it.

Also, ibuproffen will probably help reduce both pain and swelling. Don't bother with Tylenol (another worthless product, IMO).

Not to scare you, but that level of pain has always, for me, meant strep. Might not be a bad idea to go to a doctor, if you can.

Steam your head. You've probably got inflamed areas in the throat and in the back of the sinuses, and the old towel-over-head-creating-a-tent-over-a-pot-of-steaming-water remedy might get some moisture in there, or one of those nasal sprays, since you can spray your sinuses and then the excess spray will drip down into the back of your head, where you probably have a ring of inflammation right where sinus and throat join.

That's totally non-scientific, but it works pretty well, pretty often. Or you could train a horde of mosquitos to bite you on the foot. It wouldn't solve your sore throat, nor would it distract you from the pain, but if you could train mosquitos to bite you on the foot, imagine what you could train them to do to others.

You could become a superhero (or more likely -villain) who attacked bad (or more likely good) guys with malaria- and dengue and yellow fever-carrying trained mosquitos. Muhahahahaha!

This is what I would make for you: strong ginger tea (from fresh ginger root), with cardamom pods, lemon, and lots of honey.

I don't know if would actually help your sore throat, but a couple of big, huge mugs of this has sometimes helped me with cold symptoms. And, hey - if not, it's still crazygood.

Feel better, Eid! (and, yeah - it might be strep)

Get yourself a neti pot and take some advil or other OTC anti-inflammatory.

It seems gross but it is amazing!

For more see here.

Honestly, I don't think it's strep because I don't have any of the other symptoms. No nodules (I looked!), no fever, etc. It feels more like a sore in the back of my throat. I'm pretty sure it's from the cold I've had for the past week, too. Just irritation from post nasal drip, coughing, etc. I love the Chloroseptic spray, but it doesn't seem to be able to get far enough back in my throat. Maybe I will take the suggestion of the lozenges instead, thanks.

(sanitary) Hugs to all!

Mugs of hot water and *plain* lemon juice and honey are wonderful for this. Put in a lot of lemon juice and honey. You should feel it eating away at your tooth enamel.

I'm also a big fan of gargling with Listerine when I have a sore throat.

And there's always the old standby--couple shots of hard liquor (which will also make you sleep).

(I note that all my remedies are actually quite absurdly painful when you're doing them. So maybe they don't actually help, they just make the previous level of pain seem bearable by comparison. /masochist)

As a matter of fact, I've got it right now.

I've never bothered with a neti pot, but have been known to snort dissolved table salt in tepid water out of my hand, as advised 20 years ago by a naturopath. I do this now at earliest opportunity when I a get a tickly throat, and if I get to it fast enough, I'm usually sorted. I also drink pure fruit juice laced with vit. C powder to tolerance, and scoff various other herbal remedies. This time I wasn't able to use my usual remedies as fast as I should, and I've developed icky head cold & resorted to dodgy pharmaceuticals that make me a bit crazy, keep me awake and give me mild hallucinations. WEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

Oh Eide I feel your pain. I had a sore throat once that was so bad (not strep) that the doctor had to prescribe codeine because I hadn't eaten for 5 days.

I find that something like Taz's drink, while not really fixing things, makes me feel a lot better. And then while I feel better I try and muster up the courage to swig down some soup or something.

Other than that: advil, advil, advil.

Feel better!

Vitamin A for colds, not vitamin C! (Though the vitamin C won't hurt). That's why Airborne works and Emergen-C doesn't. (At least this is how it is for me). Eat kale, chard, greens -- they have lots of naturally-occurring vitamin A.

What I want with a sore throat is piping hot soup and tea. I take 30c lycopodium, but that's specific to the type of sore throat I get. The remedy finder will most likely come up with something different for you.

Seconding the neti pot, it's the best thing for my post nasal drip throat ouchies. As for drinking, anything warm usually helps me. I tend to stick to herbal teas like chammomile, ginger, rosehip and hibiscus when I'm ill. I hope you get relief soon.

I third the neti pot and hot water/lemon/honey/ginger/whiskey and steaming your sinuses.

Also, avoid caffeine and sugar!

Definitely stay hydrated - our bodies work best at everything when well hydrated. and it does sound kinda streppy to me, too, but if no fever then mebbe not Feel better!

What I want with a sore throat is pudding. Or custard. Possibly mango custard- that kind that's gelatin and mango and no egg that they serve in some various sorts of Asian restaurants. Or jello. If it's the postnasal drip kind, snorting salt water works, but if you don't get the proportion right, the pain from the snorting will completely blow away any pain you're having from the drip. So get the proportion right.

The proportion you want is 1/4 tsp fine salt for 8 oz warm water.