One of my kids (L2) is the only kid in our family who didn't have his tonsils removed. That means he is the one who has more sore throats and straps in the family, to the point that we were seriously considering removing his tonsils.
It's terrible! It seems that every 3 months he has to get antibiotics because of a throat infection, and that's not good. It's painful to watch your kid complaining of pain and discomfort, knowing that it'll get infected. And the only thing you can do is give him acetaminophen or ibuprofen, and wait to the point where he needs antibiotics.
That has happened to me countless times, until the day that I got tired and thought to myself that there should be another way to handle it. A way that wouldn't just lessen the pain while waiting for the worst to come, but a way that would stop the progress of the sore throat, and make it better before it would get worse.
So I decided to research about the topic, and about oils, herbs, etc. It was after reading a lot about it (specially in MD's websites), and taking a look at my pantry (it was late night when he came complaining about his throat) that I came up with a solution that changed the course of the sore throats in our house.
The Solution
The solution was simple:
- ½ cup of water
- ¼ teaspoon of coconut oil
- 1 drop peppermint oil
I put everything in a little container, shook it, and asked my kid to gargle it. (He is old enough to know how to do it).
I can't lie that I was a little skeptical about the mixture. I grew up in a house where we always took traditional medicine for everything. The few times my mom asked me to gargle some water/vinager mixture, it never worked. So, I did research and tried a new approach, because it just breaks my heart to see my kids suffering when they are sick, but I can't deny that I had very little hope for it.
BUT... Yes, it worked! I couldn't believe when he told me the next day that it was hurting much less than before (usually his pain gets worse everyday). I was so happy and so surprised! So he just kept gargling 3 times a day. Once as he woke up, once after school, and once before bed time.
Next day he was great! No pain, no redness, nothing!! But we kept doing it for 2 more days, just in case.
After this episode, he's had it two more times, but the solution worked like a charm again. It also happened to husband, my nephew, my sister in law, and a friend. They all used the same "formula" and they all got better in a matter of one or two days.
Now... What makes it work?
When I was researching about the different things that mother nature has made available for us, I found lots of oils that had very similar properties. Some have more benefits than others, some have more side-effects than others, and some weren't suitable for gargling... So, how did I pick? I picked the one that had the benefits I needed, and that I already had at home :). It doesn't mean that this is the best solution in the world for sore throat, or that other oils wouldn't work, but this is what worked for me at the time, and has been working ever since.
Fortunately, I always have coconut oil at home. It's just amazing how coconut oil can be so beneficial to human health and so many other things. It is a powerful inhibitor of pathogenic organisms, such as viruses and bacterias, thanks to its high Lauric acid content. So, since something was wrong in my son's throat, but I didn't know exactly what was going on, I thought it would be a good idea to use the coconut oil, due to its power to inhibit pathogenic organisms.
Also, I wanted to combine it with another antiviral and antimicrobial oil, to make it extra powerful. As I read about the different oils, I ran into oregano, clove, peppermint and some other oils, all great for this purpose. But since peppermint was the only one I had on hand, that's what I chose. Studies show that peppermint has antiviral, antimicrobial, and anti-fungal capabilities, besides being analgesic, what would be really helpful for my son.
So, taking it all into consideration, I made my "potion" (as my husband likes to call it), and it worked like magic.
Does it mean it will work for you? Hopefully... I'm not a doctor, and this is not a prescription. I'm just a mom who was desperate trying to help my son. It has helped so many people around me that I really hope it can help you too. Just a word of caution: peppermint might give you some side effects (as many essential oil do too). That's why I used just one drop. If you are afraid of trying or have never used it before, you might want to try using just the coconut oil mixed with water, and leave the peppermint out.
I hope this post was helpful to you, and that this mixture can be as good for you as it's been for me.
Hugs! And I'll see you soon!
Lilian
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