A few weeks ago I had strep throat. I took antibiotics for ten days (as prescribed) and, although my throat felt considerably, it was still a bit sore. It started to feel considerably worse over the next few days so I went back to see my doctor.
I like my doctor. He's a young doctor with a young family so he seems to like to relate to my wife and I. While he prescribes meds for illnesses like all doctors, he knows that I'm not big on putting any thing into my body that's not naturally meant to be there. He will often write a prescription for something and say, "Try doing *this* first. And if that doesn't work then go get the prescription filled." He did this today too…
I told him I was taking throat lozenges to try and alleviate the pain, which he seemed to almost have a stroke over… He explained that medicated lozenges all have some sort of antiseptic/numbing agent in them. This numbing agent makes you feel better for the half-hour that it remains active but because it’s usually a chemical numbing agent it also usually acts as chemical irritant. So, once the numbing wears off your throat feels worse… so you pop another one… feel better for a while… you feel worse… you pop another one… and so on.
Get this, he prescribed hard candies and cold water. Hard candies to get the saliva flowing and cold water to soothe the ache. Get this, a few days a half-bag of Jolly Ranchers later, my throat feel perfectly fine.
I like my doctor… and now I really like Jolly Ranchers.
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steelie