I'm desperate here people!!! My daughter (Clara, 18yo) is sick, really sick. In fact, we just got home from a couple day stay at the children's hospital here in Chicago. Her fever is finally gone (5 days of 103+ fevers), but the severely sore throat remains (day 6 now). It is extremely swollen and red and she cries any time she tries to swallow. Hot tea (throat coat tea) with honey helps if she feels up to drinking it, but she's beginning to give up and deciding sleeping non-stop is easier. She has Chloraseptic throat spray that she got at the hospital but the relief doesn't last long. I have a humidifier running in her room so things aren't dry (the hospital room was super dry plus the heat in her room was cranked up because she was running such crazy fevers). Any other tips I'm missing? She's just so miserable, I don't know what to do! Thanks!
Reading that just made my throat hurt for her! I swear by honey all by itself for coughs, but I'm not sure how much it helps with soreness. Good luck! Sick kids is always so rough on everyone. Get well soon Clara!
Thanks Monica! My husband brought home some of those honey sticks for her hot tea... maybe I'll just let her eat the honey straight from them! I would think that would be soothing... and would taste good too! She's just in rough shape because in addition to the pain inside her throat, she had needle biopsies done in six spots yesterday on her glands in her neck. Everywhere hurts at the moment Oh.... this in intriguing! Tell me more!
I have a friend/co-worker who always buys a bag of marshmallows for us to have at work this time every year, just for sore throats. I haven't tried it but she swears they help. I sure hope she feels better quickly!!
We do a lot of slushies and popsicles with sore throats. Me and 3 of my kids just got over strep and that’s what we lived on till antibiotics kicked in. I also use milkshakes because they coat my throat, but you have to be careful because they can get upset your tummy when you are sick. Small bags of ice can be applied to her throat to soothe the glands. Oh and you could also try some warm broth to get her some nutrients but still soothe her throat. Hope she feels better soon!
DH swears by honey as well; my preference is frozen blueberries to sort of suck on a few at a time (they sell them in the ice-cream, pastry & frozen smoothies drink base section of the supermarket /grocery store here); they don't melt as fast as ice chips & not as sharp/pokey edges & the antioxidants can't hurt when they're mushy enough to swallow - I don't think it's the same spray but I used diflam numbing spray a few days too long one year & it made things worse (like it started burning thru layers of skin & I started choking on blood (sorry I know TMI but stick with any prescribed 'don't use past this many days'warnings on the bottle) Hope she starts to improve soon :-(
never heard of the marshmallow thing - that is so interesting. i found an article that talks about marshmallow root though - not actual marshmallows but i have no idea, this is news to me! a warm compress is suggested for sore lymph nodes - no swallowing needed. either a heating pad or even a cloth warmed in microwave? try warm salt water gargles a little bit maybe? trying to think of things that don't require swallowing. it sounds so so painful! I hope you guys get an answer soon - so sorry Clara is going through this Tracie!
I'm so sorry that her throat is so sore. I've tried ibuprofen for sore throats in the past. I never liked anything that made me swallow more. The humidifier helps me too. Did she get antibiotics in the hospital? I'm guessing it's a virus not bacterial if it's lasted this long though, so probably not. Usually that's what kicks in and helps with the pain for my kiddos. They never had a sore throat last that long before though.
Popsciles.. warm cider or hot cocoa.. I heard heat packs or ice packs may help. Salt water rinses... lots of rest and sleep
Oh my goodness. That sounds awful. I don't know what else to add that hasn't already been said. I am curious about the marshmallows. That's something I've never tried.
Oh Tracie, it's hard to imagine this much pain and then being sent home. People have mentioned everything I've thought of (except the marshmallows!) but I do hope she feels better soonest and/or the docs find a reason for all this.
Thank you so much everyone! She's turned the corner finally! This was her first day to leave the house besides to go to the doctor or the hospital in a week (okay... we did go to the doctor today, but we also went out to lunch and stopped in a shop for a bit). She's eating semi normal again, although she still prefers softer foods. She had her recheck at the regular doctor (the one that sent her to the ER) today... her throat looks better, but left tonsils are still really enlarged and she has fluid in both ears. Her neck is super swollen, but the doctor thinks it's mainly from the biopsy and will continue to improve. We know nothing new about the mass in her neck and probably won't until we follow up with the ENT next Tuesday. 24 hours of IV antibiotics and another 10 days of antibiotics given every 8 hours. This is what seemed to help yesterday! My friend gave me the recipe for the salt and baking soda rinse they recommend to the patients where she works.
ARNICA! We do ARNICA pellets AND Elderberry cough drops from the Natural store were ELderberries is one of the first ingredients. This is the brand of cough drops we get. These and the Arnica are like miracle cures! I recommended the Arnica pellets to my neighbor because their kid gets STREP 3-4 times a year! They say it's the only thing that helps with the pain.
I swear by a shot of honey with chili powder & lemon. Apparently, honey & chili have antibacterial qualities & lemon does all sorts of good stuff. I usually put it in a dixie cup & microwave a couple of seconds, then down it. Brody's 11, he does it sans chili. Truly helps. *side note* I saw a Barbie set with doctor & patient getting an xray. Totally thought of Clara. Lol! I hope she feels better soon.
I swear by Throat Coat tea by Traditional Medicinals. Let the bag steep for about 15 minutes then slowly sip. I never travel without it. I hope she's feeling better! https://www.traditionalmedicinals.com/products/throat-coat/