Most sore throats are caused by viral infections and clear up on their own within three to ten days. The good news is that several remedies, from over-the-counter painkillers to simple kitchen ingredients, can meaningfully reduce the pain while your body fights off the infection. Here’s what actually works.
Why Most Sore Throats Don’t Need Antibiotics
Viruses cause 85% to 95% of sore throats in adults. That means antibiotics, which only work against bacteria, won’t help in the vast majority of cases. The main bacterial culprit is Group A Streptococcus (strep throat), responsible for roughly 10% of sore throats in adults and young children.
A few signs make strep more likely: fever above 100.4°F, swollen tonsils with white patches, tender lymph nodes in the front of the neck, and the absence of a cough. If you have most of these symptoms, a quick swab test at a clinic can confirm whether you need antibiotics. For the other 90% of sore throats, the goal is managing pain and discomfort until the infection runs its course.
Over-the-Counter Pain Relievers
Ibuprofen is the strongest widely available option for sore throat pain. In a clinical trial comparing 400 mg of ibuprofen against 1,000 mg of acetaminophen, ibuprofen outperformed acetaminophen on every pain rating scale at every time point past two hours. Both were significantly better than a placebo, so if you can’t take ibuprofen (due to stomach issues or other reasons), acetaminophen still helps. The advantage of ibuprofen is that it reduces both pain and inflammation, while acetaminophen only targets pain.
Throat sprays containing a numbing agent like benzocaine offer fast, targeted relief. These sprays start working in about 30 seconds, reaching full effect within two to three minutes. The relief is temporary, but they’re useful for getting through meals or falling asleep when swallowing is especially painful.
Salt Water Gargle
Dissolve half a teaspoon of salt in one cup of warm water and gargle for 15 to 30 seconds. The salt draws excess fluid out of swollen throat tissue, temporarily reducing inflammation and easing the raw feeling. It’s free, repeatable throughout the day, and one of the most consistently recommended remedies by clinicians. The relief is modest and short-lived, but gargling several times a day can keep pain more manageable between doses of pain medication.
Honey
Honey coats and soothes irritated throat tissue, and it performs surprisingly well in research. A systematic review of studies in children found honey was more effective than diphenhydramine (a common antihistamine used as a cough suppressant) at reducing nighttime coughing and improving sleep quality. It matched the effectiveness of dextromethorphan, the active ingredient in many over-the-counter cough medicines. Honey also has antimicrobial and antiviral properties, though its main benefit for a sore throat is the physical coating and cough suppression.
You can take a spoonful straight, stir it into warm tea, or mix it with warm water and lemon. One important exception: never give honey to children under one year old due to the risk of botulism.
Warm Liquids and Herbal Teas
Warm fluids soothe throat tissue and help you stay hydrated, which matters because a sore throat can make you drink less than usual. Broth, warm water with lemon, and caffeine-free tea all work. Some herbal teas are specifically formulated for throat comfort using ingredients like slippery elm, marshmallow root, and licorice root. These plants produce a thick, gel-like substance called mucilage that coats and lubricates irritated tissue. The clinical evidence for these herbs is limited, but the coating sensation provides real, if temporary, comfort.
Cold liquids and popsicles can also help by numbing the throat slightly. There’s no rule that says relief has to come from something warm. Use whatever temperature feels best to you.
Humidity and Air Quality
Dry air pulls moisture from your throat’s mucous membranes, making soreness worse. This is especially common in winter when indoor heating dries out the air. A humidifier can help. The Mayo Clinic recommends keeping indoor humidity between 30% and 50%. Below that range, dry air can irritate the nose and throat. Above it, you risk encouraging mold growth.
If you don’t have a humidifier, breathing in steam from a hot shower provides short-term relief. Sleeping with a shallow bowl of water near a heat source can also add some moisture to the air overnight.
What to Eat and Avoid
Soft, cool, or warm foods are easiest on a sore throat. Think yogurt, applesauce, mashed potatoes, scrambled eggs, and smoothies. Avoid anything sharp, crunchy, acidic, or spicy, as these can scrape or further irritate already inflamed tissue. Toast, chips, citrus juice, and very hot liquids tend to make things worse.
How Long Recovery Takes
A typical viral sore throat lasts three to ten days. Pain usually peaks in the first two or three days and then gradually fades. If your symptoms haven’t improved after a week, are getting worse instead of better, or are accompanied by difficulty breathing, difficulty swallowing, blood in your saliva, excessive drooling in a young child, a rash, or joint pain and swelling, those are signs that something beyond a standard viral infection may be going on and warrant a visit to a healthcare provider.