Treating Sore Throat and Tonsils with Green Tea

Chances are that sometime in your lifetime or your children's lifetime, you will come down with a case of throat or tonsil pain. While the tonsils are supposed to protect the body from infection, in some cases they can interfere with normal breathing, swallowing and eating. Although this is not as common as it once was, tonsils are still removed in some cases due to complications. Fortunately, removal is only necessary in severe cases. Sore tonsils can be caused by several different conditions, and often the cause of multiple types of tonsil pain is some form of swelling or infection. The first step in properly treating sore tonsils, then, is determining the problem's exact cause; therefore, you should visit your doctor if you or your child notice tonsil pain.

Strep throat is one of the most common throat bacterial infections. It is typically transmitted through contact with nasal secretions or the saliva of another person. It can cause white patches on the tonsils, red splotching, difficulty swallowing, and a sore throat.

Another cause of tonsil pain could be an abscess in the tonsils, which is known as a peritonsillar abscess. An abscess causes swelling and enlarged glands or tissue due to pus filling the surrounding area. The pressure can cause severe pain and discomfort until it is removed or treated.

Tonsillitis is characterized by an inflammation of the tonsils in the back of the throat. It can exhibit a vast array of symptoms but the most prominent is the swelling of the tonsils after being exposed to a viral or bacterial infection. It can be recurring, in which case surgical tonsil removal may be required.

Depending on the exact cause of your sore tonsils, drinking green tea may be helpful in relieving your symptoms. For example, the Mayo Clinic reports that staying hydrated can help relieve pain in individuals who have strep throat. Green tea is also a potent antibacterial agent. Bacteria can be responsible for several different causes of sore tonsils, including strep throat and tonsillitis. However, you should still have your doctor diagnose and treat your tonsil pain, since it could sometimes be a sign of a serious condition that requires medical treatment.

MayoClinic.com: "Strep Throat"

PubMed Health: "Strep Throat"

MedlinePlus: "Peritonsillar Abscess"

MayoClinic.com: "Tonsillitis"

Cigna: "Tonsillitis"

University of Maryland Medical Center: "Green Tea"

Current Microbiology: "Antibacterial Effects of Green Tea Polyphenols on Clinical Isolates of Methicillin-Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus"

Tehran University of Medical Sciences: "Antibacterial Activity of Iranian Green and Black Tea on Streptococcus Mutans: An In Vitro Study"