An unpleasant sensation in the throat may be due to a viral or bacterial infection. Sometimes it itches due to an allergic reaction of the body, and sometimes its mucous surface is irritated by the contact with a large amount of dust or other contaminants. Sometimes the pain is caused by overstrain of the ligaments.
To reduce discomfort, people resort to a proven treatment method - gargling with soda. Such a simple and effective measure allows you to reduce pain by removing foreign particles and microorganisms from the inner surface of the throat.
What are the benefits of rinsing?
Gargling a sore throat with baking soda is one of the home treatment methods. Moreover, even a doctor can recommend it. Soda has many useful qualities:
- The inner walls of the throat, represented by mucous epithelium, are cleaned mechanically. Excess mucus, pathogenic viruses and bacteria, dust particles, and hard plaque are removed from them.
- Gargling with soda for a sore throat allows you to achieve rapid cleansing of the tonsils not only due to their mechanical treatment, but also due to the fact that soda has a pronounced antiseptic effect.
- Soda solution shortens the duration of oropharyngeal diseases due to the fact that it stops the inflammatory reaction and reduces its swelling. It can be used for stomatitis.
- The use of the solution can instantly reduce the intensity of pain due to tonsillitis.
- The solution helps to neutralize the feeling of sore throat, which often occurs against the background of acute respiratory viral infections and allergies.
Sometimes soda can be harmful to health. If you rinse too often, this can lead to alkalization of the microflora of the mucous membranes. As a result, beneficial bacteria will die, and microbes will begin to multiply faster. Therefore, if you have a sore throat, you can gargle it with a soda solution, but within reasonable limits.
Patient reviews
Natalya, 36 years old: “Saline solution is my salvation for a sore throat. The main thing is to start rinsing when the first symptoms of a sore throat appear. You can also use sea salt, which, in my opinion, is healthier than table salt.”
Alexander, 28 years old: “I very often suffer from sore throats, even in summer, all I have to do is drink cold water. I repeatedly visited many otolaryngologists who prescribed me treatment, including rinsing my throat with iodine, soda and salt. Literally after the first procedure, the pain and sore throat decreases. I recommend this simple and effective method of combating sore throat.”
Gennady, 47 years old: “Last winter I caught a bad cold. In addition to elevated body temperature, general weakness and runny nose, I was bothered by congestion and sore throat. Since I didn’t have the opportunity to see a specialist, I gargled with a triple solution (iodine, soda and salt) morning and evening, which became my salvation. But I still recommend not to self-medicate, as I do, but to seek medical help, since you may be allergic to iodine.”
Prepare a soda solution according to the rules
A solution of soda for gargling will be useful only if the proportions of the main components are observed. Therefore, you need to follow the recipe:
- First you need to boil water in a kettle and cool it to a comfortable temperature. The solution is prepared from 2 glasses of water.
- Pour soda into the prepared liquid. In general, you will need 2 teaspoons.
- It is imperative to ensure complete dissolution of the soda.
- You can gargle with soda immediately after preparing the medicinal composition. Store it for no more than 24 hours. There is no need to put the solution in the refrigerator.
- Before the next rinsing procedure, the solution will need to be shaken.
Knowing how to dilute soda for gargling correctly, you can safely use it even at home.
Rinse rules
It is not difficult to achieve a better result from a throat treatment if you perform it according to the rules:
- it is important to control the freshness of the solution; it should not be stored for longer than a day;
- the water should be at room temperature;
- During the procedure, it is forbidden to swallow soda water, as this will negatively affect the health of the digestive system;
- when gargling with soda has been completed, you need to stop eating any food and water for half an hour;
- Each treatment procedure should last for 30 seconds;
- your head needs to be thrown back and your tongue pushed forward;
- the deeper the liquid penetrates into the throat, the better;
- To treat the tonsils with soda solution, you need to pronounce the letter “s” loudly.
In general, the rules for carrying out the procedure are known to most people since childhood, so performing it yourself will not be difficult.
Recipes for solutions with soda
Sodium bicarbonate diluted in water is a classic way to prepare a solution. Its effectiveness can be increased using various components. This includes salt, iodine, infusions of medicinal herbs, and chicken protein.
Dilute baking soda and salt in equal parts of water. For 250 ml of liquid, all components are taken in a teaspoon. Gargling with soda and salt for a sore throat will speed up the time for complete recovery and better disinfect the surface of the inflamed tonsils. The less plaque remains on them, the better for the own microflora of the diseased larynx.
To make your throat stop hurting faster, you can enrich the soda solution with three drops of iodine . The dose must be strictly observed; you should not exceed it yourself. Iodine can be absorbed into the blood, even with local treatment. Its regular intake into the body in large volumes can provoke disturbances in the functioning of the thyroid gland.
Therefore, gargling with soda, salt and iodine is possible only if the specified proportion is observed. It is permissible to treat it with such a solution no more than five times a day. When the acute stage of the disease is completed, the frequency of rinses is gradually reduced.
Herbal decoctions with St. John's wort, chamomile or sage do not have aggressive properties. They have a disinfecting effect and allow you to gently get rid of bacterial and viral flora. The herbal decoction is prepared according to the classical scheme. The resulting composition is filtered, cooled, brought to the original volume and 2 teaspoons of soda are added to it.
You can prepare a soda solution with the addition of chicken egg white .
This component has enveloping properties. It creates a protective film on the surface of the mucous membrane, which helps reduce inflammation.
How to gargle with salt, soda and iodine for adults
The rinsing procedure is quite simple. The proportions for preparing a solution with salt, baking soda and iodine are very simple. To do this, you need to first prepare a solution with a volume of 250 ml.
Then the drug is taken into the mouth in small portions, the head is tilted back a little and rinsed for 20-30 seconds. At the end, the liquid is spat out. The duration of the manipulation is no more than 10 minutes, up to 2 times a day.
At the initial stage of development of the disease, the procedure is carried out a little differently. Gargle in 5-6 approaches and each time add 2-3 drops of iodine to the medicinal solution. If signs of irritation are observed, additional use of iodine is excluded.
The procedure is repeated many times a day and regularly until the condition improves. Then, rinsing is carried out for preventive purposes 2 times a day in the morning and evening.
Each time a new medicinal composition is prepared to wash the throat.
When manipulating, it is worth considering food intake. It is advisable to carry out the procedure 30 minutes before meals and an hour after.
Treatment of pregnant children and women
It is not recommended to treat children who have not yet reached the age of three years with a soda solution. During this period, children are simply not able to cope with the task of gargling. However, already in middle preschool age you can accustom your child to this useful procedure. In order for your child to cope with the task better, you need to show him the rules of gargling several times using your example. The child must be informed that liquid should not get inside.
Gargling with soda during pregnancy is possible if there are no other contraindications. Due to weakened immunity, expectant mothers often face infectious diseases, and they are prohibited from taking most medications. Gargling with soda and salt during pregnancy is a wonderful alternative to medications. Treat a sore throat as many times as the doctor recommends. A pregnant woman is strictly prohibited from swallowing the solution, as this may harm her health.
Rinses for children and pregnant women
Treatment during pregnancy is difficult, there is a danger of harming the woman and the fetus, so you have to choose safe methods of therapy. If soda and salt do not raise any questions even during pregnancy, then adding iodine can harm the baby by accumulating in his thyroid gland. In the early stages of pregnancy (1st trimester), while only the formation of the fetal endocrine system is underway, the procedure is allowed, but with 1-2 drops of iodine.
Children should be taught how to rinse correctly from the age of three; children will not be able to do this earlier; they may also swallow liquid. Rinses with iodine are allowed for children from 5 years of age, but only one drop of iodine is taken. The treatment procedure can be carried out no more than twice a day and for a maximum of 5 days.
Iodine in combination with a soda-salt solution will become a natural stimulator of the body's defenses. As a result, swelling of the mucous membrane is relieved, pain stops, thanks to its rapid healing. Before treating a child, as well as a woman during pregnancy, you should make sure that there are no allergies or hypersensitivity to the components of the solution.
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Prohibitions for use
It is not always permissible to use soda for gargling; there are a number of contraindications to its use. These include:
- Allergic reaction of the body.
- Atrophic pharyngitis (although this disorder is also accompanied by severe pain).
- Tuberculosis.
Pathologies of the endocrine glands and the period of bearing a child - these two conditions are prohibitions on adding iodine to soda.
Before carrying out the first procedure, you must make sure that the person does not have individual intolerance to the components included in the prepared solution.
Benefits of a solution of soda, salt and iodine
The action of each component has a great influence on eliminating inflammation and helps to quickly get rid of not only throat diseases, but also other pathologies that damage the oral mucosa. Salt has an anti-inflammatory effect, which helps eliminate swelling and also destroys pathogenic bacteria. It is thanks to salt that purulent plaque and deposits in the throat area get rid of. After this, it is she who has a healing effect on the oral mucosa, which means it leads to the complete restoration of damaged tissues. Sea salt works best in therapy, but using regular food salt also guarantees a therapeutic effect.
Soda is considered a product that every person has in their home, and it also has a large number of useful properties. One of the main advantages of baking soda is its antifungal effect. It also helps disinfect the oral cavity, thereby ridding the human body of harmful infections and microorganisms that cause the development of inflammatory processes.
The use of iodine to treat wounds has been known for a very long time. It is this that helps dry the skin, which speeds up the healing process. This is what speeds up the healing process. Iodine also promotes faster decomposition of purulent formations in the throat, which is especially necessary in the treatment of sore throat, tonsillitis and other diseases of a purulent nature.
When will baking soda be useless?
Although soda solutions as part of complex therapy can cope with most diseases of viral or bacterial etiology, sometimes they still turn out to be powerless. For example, there is no need to use soda if the infection is localized in the bronchi. The solution will not bring relief if your throat hurts due to a tumor growing in it.
Therefore, before you start using baking soda at home, you need to visit a specialist and get an accurate diagnosis from him.
Contraindications for gargling with soda solution
Soda solution should not be used during the acute stage of inflammation of the gastrointestinal tract . In this case, you should not abuse soda. An exact dosage is needed. Before starting treatment with this method, you should seek advice from a specialist or your doctor.
Rinsing your throat and mouth with a mixture of baking soda can cause an undesirable effect : instead of neutralizing excess acid in the stomach, its secretion will increase.
There is an opinion that using this product you can whiten your teeth well. But it is best to refrain from such a procedure. Most dentists claim that it destroys tooth enamel .
