[128shot]

well-you guys seem to know a lot about alternative medicine etc

anyone got a nice cure for strep throat?

[blukatzen]

I hate strep throat.

Gargle with salt water (tepid), take lots of garlic, goldenseal for a week or so, to kill the infection. Take some honey throat drops (like ricola) for the sore throat and to keep things coated. If you have a lot of phlegm, just rinse things out with a good herbal mouthwash.
(stay away from the dairy for a few days). Sage is still in the US pharmacopea for sore throats/throat infections.

Also lots of Vitamin C and rest up, your body is trying to fight an infection. Don't speak a lot if you don't have to. Chicken soup will do you well.

Keep on top of it so it doesn't get to the stage where you have to take antibiotics prescribed by a doctor.

Drink lots of fluids, water preferably, if you don't like plain water, take w/a slice of lemon or lime. (xtra vit. C)

Hope you feel better soon!

[lateStarter]

Although I have to admit that I never tried it, my Grandmother (originally from Ireland) always suggested going to bed with one of your socks from the day wrapped around your neck. If blukatzen's ideas don't work for you, give the sock a try and let me know how it works out.

[blukatzen]

Hi Latestarter, hope life is treating you well and all is well on the homefront.

The Old sock routine, eh? That's much better than my (father's mother) grandmother's ideas..she used to paint..with a feather..Kerosene, on the throats of the sick children in her family during the depression while they were growing up. My dad used to say (when we were sicklings as children, and handing out meds to us) "See, now aren't you glad that you have THIS to take instead of what *I* had to go through?"
Then he lit up a cigarette. So, if you smoke, don't try the kerosene trick unless you plan on *never* smoking again..because you won't...

[eastbay]

Ok, here's the deal.

About 20 years ago, I went to the hospital emergency at about midnight with a 104 temperature and a certain case of strep throat. The sore throat was lingering for a few hours beforehand, but the spike in temperature clobbered me hard and fast.

It was my third trip there in the previous two years, and the the kind doctor noticed this. He said this time i had to heal it without medication. He stuffed a tylenol down my throat and had me sit in the waiting room monitoring my temperature now and then. It finally dropped so he sent me home saying, 'best of luck; call if it gets worse'.

The strep throat cured itself after a few days and I haven't been stricken with it since.

When you get strep throat, pop a tylenol and drink a few glasses of water.

[smallpoxgirl]

I'll take the immune system for 200 Alex.

Seriously...95% of strep throat cures itself. The reason we doctors always treat it with antibiotics is A: patients expect it, B: Children can get rheumatic fever though this is very rare and exceedingly rare in adults, C: On rare occasion a strep throat might lead to a peri-tonsillar abscess that would need further intervention. For most patients, about the only benefit to antibiotics is that they cut about one day off the symptoms. Symptomatic treatment(i.e. ibuprofen or salt water gargles for discomfort) and waiting is not a bad plan. If you're unable to swallow, have a temp over 102.0, or it's not getting better in 7 days I would definitely see someone.

The other obvious question is how do you know it's strep. Most sore throats are viral and aren't helped by antibiotics anyway.

[I_Like_Plants]

Get some povidone-iodine PREP, not wash, PREP. Used to wash down surgical sites. Water it a bit and gargle with it, and do not swallow for a while - lie head-down for a bit and spit a lot, until it's done its job, and your throat is not so indiny - you can swallow a little and it should not harm you, but just try to spit out what part does not react with the skin/germs in your throat.

I have not gotten desperate enough to do this yet, but the time will come, sometime. Povidone-iodine prep with a little peppermint flavor is sold in Germany for mouth sores, so this is not like drinking the iodine Mom used to paint your cuts with - the povidone denatures it.

[gg3]

What I do for sore throats:

At the very first sign of one, even a little one, I gargle with salt and moderately warm water, as often as possible during the day and again before bedtime. This usually prevents it getting any bigger and stops it entirely in a day or two at most.

The water should be as hot as you are comfortable gargling but not hotter. The heat, as well as the salinity of the water, kills many bacteria and gives your immune system that much better of a chance to destroy the rest.

If you notice a sore throat when you wake up (very often the first sign of one is upon waking up), gargle before you get into the shower so the saline has a chance to stick around a while before you eat breakfast.

Knocking it down when it's small can prevent it getting bigger and turning into a sinus or chest infection.

[EnergyUnlimited]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('128shot', 'w')ell-you guys seem to know a lot about alternative medicine etc

anyone got a nice cure for strep throat?

[I_Like_Plants]

I'll 2nd the vote for salt gargles though, yes they make the throat dry afterward, but they do kill a lot of germs and really help.

Lil seawater or Bay water heated in a black-painted pan in the sun..... then gargle, then chew a bit of seaweed for the muciliginous soothing effect....

American doctors at least will do the "paint your throat with iodine" thing if it's really bad, and charge the usual small fortune.

I think Listerine gargles can help too, but wow, there's a reason I call the stuff "Blisterine" hehe. It's strong!

[128shot]

well...


I know it was strep because I took at strep test at the docs. It got to the point where I couldn't swallow anything without extreme discomfort.


Antibiotics cleared it up in a very short amount of time. Damn modern medicine is good.

[Wednesday]

Almost anything that weakens my bronchial system turns into walking pneumonia.

Prevention is my strategy, but I don't want to find out what would happen without antibiotics.

Is it possible for me to purchase vet antibiotics from a feed store?

[I_Like_Plants]

For myself, I use the salt water when my throat's bad, and when it's a cold or flu, well, I drink Coke. I don't touch the stuff otherwise, but I find Coke really makes me feel better and is soothing to my throat when I can't stand the thought of water. I'll also have hot-and-sour soup, it's one of the few things I'll feel like eating. Not necessarily medicinal, my regime is just what makes me feel better

[drgoodword]

I've had a few cases of strep throat over the years, and the single best cure I've found is fresh garlic, although you need to eat quite a bit of it for best results.

I make a bowl of pasta with tomato sauce (canned sauce is okay), stir in half a head of freshly diced garlic, get some bread and chew away. Really bite down on the fresh garlic bits if you can. It'll hurt a bit, but you'll only need to do this once or twice.

And a glass of red wine doesn't hurt.

[uNkNowN ElEmEnt]

I have two cures but will only share one with you since this is a public forum and don't want anyone to screw up the other one (has specific instructions you HAVE TO follow).

But the first one is really simple. I discovered it because doctors won't let you give kids under two years old any kind of cough syrup. They says its a natural action that you should not supress in kids.

Anyway... its pickles.. yes pickles... with Garlic. Even if you have such a sore throat and you can't swallow, all you have to do is suck on a pickle. When you think you've gotten all the juice out of it, chew it up to release the rest of the juice and then if necessary spit the pickle out, and bit off another chunk and repeat.

The garlic is good for you but what you really want is vinegar in a palatable form. Its a natural anti-biotic and anti-viral and will kill of virus' (which even modern anti-biotics can't do). and letting it slowly leak down the back of your throat will help even the worst sore throat after a few minutes.

SPG: I thought you were a veterinarian....not a medical doctor....

[Tanada]

For Strep we always gargled with very warm very salty water and took penicillin, or some related anti-biotic. If it was just a sore throat with flem my dad would make us sip a 16 ounce glass of his cure, two tablespoons of honey, 6 ounces of Vinegar and the balance of the glass filled with boiling hot water to dissolve it all into the mixture.

[Laromi]

Two tablespoons of honey, Juice of 1 large lemon, 250 gm dissoluble aspirin (for Temp. reduction and mitigate any associated aches and pains, balance of glass filled with hot water to dissolve the mixture. Sip, sip, sip...