Self-care
The treatment of a sore throat depends on the cause. A sore throat that's caused by a viral infection is usually treated by self-care measures such as:
- pain relief medicines
- drinking more fluids
- eating soft foods
- trying ice blocks
- honey and lemon juice.
Medicines for sore throat
A sore throat is often caused by a viral infection, and the pain and discomfort usually eases after a few days. It often doesn't need treatment with medicine. But if the pain is very uncomfortable you can use the following medicines to ease the symptoms.
| Medicines |
Description |
| Paracetamol or ibuprofen |
- Taking pain relief medicines such as paracetamol may ease your symptoms and may allow you to eat and drink more comfortably. Read more about paracetamol.
- You can also use ibuprofen, an anti-inflammatory medicine, to ease the pain but ibuprofen may not be suitable if you have some medical conditions. Read more about ibuprofen.
|
|
Throat products
(lozenges,
sprays and gargles)
|
- Sore throat products are available as lozenges, sprays or gargles.
- Some contain anaesthetics (numbing agents) and may provide temporary relief from soreness.
- Most of these products can be used every 2–3 hours.
- Common examples include:
- Codral sore throat lozenges
- Difflam lozenges
- Difflam spray
- Difflam mouthwash
- Strepsils lozenges
- Strepfen intensive lozenge
- Cepacaine mouthwash.
Talk to your pharmacist about the best pain relief for you or your child. Medicated throat lozenges are not suitable for children. Some lozenges have a high sugar content and may not be suitable for people with diabetes.
|
| Cough suppressants |
|
When are antibiotics used for sore throat?
Most people don't need antibiotics for a sore throat because most sore throats are caused by viruses and antibiotics are not effective at killing viruses. Antibiotics don't make much difference to symptoms – you have a 50% chance of being better in 3 days without antibiotics, and within 3 days with them. In either case, with or without antibiotics, you have a 90% chance of being better in 7 days.
Antibiotics are needed in some cases – although it's not considered worthwhile to routinely prescribe antibiotics for most children, Māori or Pasifika children or those coming from crowded homes may benefit from taking antibiotics. This is because the chances of them developing other health problems such as ear infections, rheumatic fever or glomerulonephritis (inflammation of the kidneys) are higher than for most children.
Antibiotics may also be given if you are at risk of spreading a strep throat infection, eg, if you are a:
- healthcare worker
- residential care worker
- food handler
- teacher
- childcare worker
- student.
The course of the antibiotics is usually for 10 days, and it is important that you or your child complete the full 10 days of antibiotics, even if you or your child start to feel better. This helps to stop strep throat from turning into rheumatic fever. Antibiotics can be given in a form of a capsule, liquid or as an injection.
