When you have strep throat, your throat may feel irritated, scratchy or sore. It is a bacterial infection that, if left untreated, can cause kidney inflammation or rheumatic fever. While this condition is common in children between ages 5 through 15, it can affect people of all ages.
What Causes Strep Throat?
Strep throat is caused by the bacterium known as Streptococcus pyogenes. It is a highly contagious bacterium that can be spread through airborne droplets from coughing or sneezing. The bacteria can also be contracted by sharing food, drinks, or touching surfaces, which have been infected, and then touching the mouth. Causes can include:
- The Streptococcus pygenes bacterium
- Sharing food or drinks
- Getting coughed or sneezed on by an infected person
- Touching infected surfaces (and then touching the mouth)
Natural Remedies
Get A Humidifier
It may be beneficial to put a humidifier in your room to help alleviate dryness in your throat. Additionally, it may help to inhale steam. You can poor boiling water into a bowl, let it cool for 5 minutes or so, put your face over the bowl, and drape a towel over your head and the bowl to trap the steam. Breathe deeply, and you can add a few drops of eucalyptus essential oil for added benefits.
Gargle With Salt Water
Gargling with salt water can help provide relief to a sore or dry throat, in addition to helping sooth the larynx. Add about 1 teaspoon of sea salt to a cup of warm water and gargle the solution little by little. Do this a couple times a day.
Drink Ginger Tea
Drinking fresh ginger tea is very beneficial for strep throat because ginger helps to soothe the inflamed mucus membranes. You can poor about a cup of boiling water over 8-10 slices of thinly sliced ginger root. Let it sit for about 5-10 minutes and strain the liquid. You can add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and a little raw honey to the tea and drink this 2-3 times a day.
Chew Raw Garlic
Chewing raw garlic, while it may add quite the garlicky scent to your breath, can help kill bacteria or viruses. After chewing the garlic slowly it is best to swallow it. If you don’t want to chew garlic, you can add a couple chopped garlic cloves to a jar with equal parts apple cider vinegar and distilled water. Shake the jar to mix up the content and let it sit on the counter for 4 hours. Then add a little bit of raw honey before placing it into the refrigerator. You can take 1-3 tablespoons of this solution every 6-8 hours until symptoms reduce.
Apple Cider Vinegar
Because apple cider vinegar has antimicrobial properties, it can be a beneficial treatment for strep throat. Mix two tablespoons of raw, unfiltered apple cider vinegar and one tablespoon of raw honey in a half cup of water. To help yourself even more, add a few dashes of cayenne pepper to this concoction. Drink this twice a day until symptoms subside.
Get Some Rest
Make sure to get plenty of rest if you have strep throat. Sleep is the body’s natural way of regenerating and rest will only aid the healing process. Rest is critical, so stay inside, lounge about, and let the body relax.
Vincent Stevens is the senior content writer at Dherbs. As a fitness and health and wellness enthusiast, he enjoys covering a variety of topics, including the latest health, fitness, beauty, and lifestyle trends. His goal is to inform people of different ways they can improve their overall health, which aligns with Dherbs’ core values. He received his bachelor’s degree in creative writing from the University of Redlands, graduating summa cum laude. He lives in Los Angeles, CA.
