Sore Throat Remedies for CSRs

Here in the northern hemisphere, it's the beginning of cold and flu season. Everywhere I go I hear people coughing and wheezing as they speak with gravelly voices. My own household is a cacophony of hacking, sneezing, and snuffling. Colds can be killer for CSRs whose livelihood depends on using their voice all day (or all night) long.

So, thanks to the folks at Reader's Digest, I pass along four common remedies for those pesky sore throats that plague everyone in the contact center:

Tomato Juice
For temporary relief of sore throat symptoms, gargle with a mixture of 1/2 cup tomato juice and 1/2 cup hot water, plus about 10 drops hot pepper sauce. 
See more uses for Tomato Juice. 

Vinegar
Here are three ways that you can make a sore throat feel better:

• If your throat is left raw by a bad cough, or even a speaking or singing engagement, you'll find fast relief by gargling with 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar and 1 teaspoon salt dissolved in a glass of warm water; use several times a day if needed.



• For sore throats associated with a cold or flu, combine 1/4 cup cider vinegar and 1/4 cup honey and take 1 tablespoon every four hours.



• To soothe both a cough and a sore throat, mix 1/2 cup vinegar, 1/2 cup water, 4 teaspoons honey, and 1 teaspoon hot sauce. Swallow 1 tablespoon four or five times daily, including one before bedtime. Warning: Children under one year old should never be given honey. 
  See more uses for Vinegar.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and andreanilsson1976

Comments

[Ann Onimous]

I was a vocal major in college, so I can add two more in the sore throat category.

1: Peppermint tea. Sweeten with honey.

2: Lemons and peppermint sticks. This one really helps a sore throat: take a lemon and cut a small hole in it, place a peppermint stick in the hole, and suck the lemon juice out around the peppermint stick. This remedy got me through end-of-semester vocal juries years ago!

[Jonty]

Good one.

I would also suggest that call centres provide a range of caffeine-free herbal teas.

Much better for the call centre than tea and coffee.