Cayenne Pepper cures my sore throat

I have to be very careful with this, thanks to the litigious culture we now live in, so let me make clear I am NOT RECOMMENDING THE FOLLOWING as a cure for sore throats. I’m sure if you try it, you’ll have some awful accident. So don’t sue me, okay?

Now I’ve got that out of the way – I’ve been suffering for the past few days with a really chronic sore throat – the sort that makes you wonder if you accidentally gargled with some broken glass. It was horrifically painful (although admittedly, I am a big wuss), and I could barely sleep or even swallow. After a few days of plenty of drugs and no improvement, I seriously began to wonder (because I’m a big wuss) if I was going to need my tonsils removed. In desperation, I turned to everyone’s secret best friend, Mr Google, and searched for other cures to sore throats. I found one, which turned up in a few different places, which suggested gargling with 1/8 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper (the really hot stuff you put in Chilli) mixed in with a cup of hot water. Like a fool, I tried it, and it only succeeded in burning my mouth.

Now, the website (which was dedicated to road-testing old wives’ remedies) stated that you had to persist with the ‘treatment’ several times, and at 15-minute intervals. My throat was killing me, and so I did. Four treatments later, the pain had drastically reduced; four more after that, I was able to swallow without much discomfort at all.

So thankyou Mr Google, and thankyou Mr Cayenne, for inventing your fine pepper. But remember: don’t try this at home.