Licorice Root For Sore Throats
Licorice is a plant native to Europe and South Asia.
Interestingly, it has been used in traditional medicine to treat many disorders.
Licorice has properties similar to aspirin that may help reduce sore throat pain.
Unfortunately, there isn't any research on its ability to relieve illness-related sore throats.
However, studies on individuals who had just undergone major surgery found that licorice significantly reduced throat pain due to breathing tube removal (1, 2).
One study found that gargling with licorice water prior to surgery reduced the risk of getting a sore throat by 50%, compared to gargling with sugar water (2).
Licorice root tea can be purchased at natural grocery stores or from online retailers.
You can also make your own to drink or gargle. Combine ground licorice root with hot water, let it steep for five minutes, then strain it prior to drinking.
Bottom line: Licorice root has aspirin-like qualities and may help soothe a sore throat when gargled or consumed as a tea.
For Dogs and Cats
Licorice root can be safely given orally for short term treatments, such as coughing, tracheal collapse, throat irritation after surgery.
Average tincture doses are 1/4 of a ml/10lbs of body weight 2- 3 times a day.
An effective option would be to combine 1/2 teaspoon of raw honey, with 1/4 ml of licorice tincture ( for a 10lb animal) and dissolve it all in 2 tablespoons of warm water.
Give mixture 3 times/day
References
1. An evaluation of the efficacy of licorice gargle for attenuating postoperative sore throat: a prospective, randomized, single-blind study. Agarwal A1, Gupta D, Yadav G, Goyal P, Singh PK, Singh U.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19535697
2. A randomized, double-blind comparison of licorice versus sugar-water gargle for prevention of postoperative sore throat and postextubation coughing. Ruetzler K1, Fleck M, Nabecker S, Pinter K, Landskron G, Lassnigg A, You J, Sessler DI.https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23921656 |
