All people have experienced a sore throat in one way or another. Especially often parents of young children hear complaints about the appearance of this symptom - the cause may be viral and bacterial infections. To help alleviate the condition, so-called home methods are widely used - among them rinsing takes pride of place as a convenient and affordable way of treatment. Patients choose it, trying to eliminate pathogenic microorganisms, cleanse the mucous membrane. A popular remedy is a soda-iodine solution. How to rinse a sore throat with soda and iodine correctly? In what proportions should the medicine be prepared?
Purpose of application
Homemade recipes have been passed down from generation to generation. Grandmothers give advice on how to treat coughing, sore throat grandchildren - and soda-iodine solution is most often mentioned. Someone unconditionally follows the recommendations, someone doubts the effectiveness of the proposed remedy. To understand what a medicine that contains soda and iodine can be useful for, it is worth knowing the characteristics and purpose of each of the components.
Soda
This is the main component of the solution. Its "official" name is sodium bicarbonate. No housewife can do without baking soda, but its use in cooking is just one of the many roles of this substance. Sodium bicarbonate has the following effects:
- antimicrobial;
- antimycotic;
- softening.
For therapeutic purposes, sodium bicarbonate solution is used locally - to irrigate the mucous membrane of the oropharynx by rinsing.
Soda is a mild antiseptic.
Although the antimicrobial effect of soda is not as pronounced as that of "standard" antiseptics, in combination with other components, it works well for inflammatory diseases of the oral cavity and pharynx. With local exposure, sodium bicarbonate is capable of:
- break down mucin (the main component of mucus);
- accelerate microcirculation.
Thus, soda helps to cleanse the surface of the mucous membranes, to fight the manifestations of the inflammatory process. In some classifications, it is called not only an antiseptic, but also an anti-inflammatory agent.
Iodine
Iodine belongs to the group of halogenated compounds. It is an antiseptic with a bactericidal effect. An alcoholic solution of iodine is added to the rinsing solution, which is used to destroy bacteria and provocateurs of mycotic (fungal) infection.
Salt or sea salt is usually added to the rinse. The use of this component allows you to achieve a moisturizing, antiseptic and anti-inflammatory effect. It is believed that the presence of salt in the solution promotes the speedy healing of the mucous membrane. However, it should be borne in mind that in very high concentrations, this ingredient is irritating and can aggravate symptoms.
Recipes
It is necessary to prepare a solution for gargling with soda and iodine correctly. The variety of recipes makes you wonder: which of them will help the patient best, will improve the condition and eliminate inflammation as quickly as possible?
To begin with, it is worth describing the classic recipe for the remedy. To prepare it you will need:
- Boiled warm water (at a comfortable temperature) in an amount of 250 ml.
- Baking soda without lumps - in the amount of 1 teaspoon.
- Table salt without lumps, flavorings - in the amount of 2 teaspoons.
- Iodine solution - 2 to 4 drops.
It is important to observe the indicated proportions, monitor the amount of iodine. It cannot be overdose, it is optimal to add 2 or 3 drops to the medicine - if much more has poured out through negligence, it is better to prepare the solution again. They use only fresh medicine, it cannot be stored - therefore, it is better to mix all the ingredients just before the procedure.
Sometimes the amount of soda in the solution is different:
- with tonsillitis (tonsillitis) of viral and bacterial etiology, the concentration of soda is about 3%;
- with fungal tonsillitis, a solution is prepared, the concentration of which ranges from 2 to 5% of the active substance.
Since in this case the amount of water for the solution can be from 200 to 400 ml per procedure, it is worth calculating in advance the required amount of dry sodium bicarbonate powder.
Soda and iodine
If the patient does not want to use salt or is not at hand, a two-component solution is also suitable for the rinsing procedure. In a glass of warm water, boiled, you need to take half a teaspoon of soda, add 3 drops of iodine and stir the resulting product well. They can gargle every three hours, excluding sleep time.
Sea salt, soda and iodine
You need 200 ml of warm boiled water. Half a teaspoon of sea salt and the same amount of soda are successively dissolved in it, then 5 drops of iodine are added.
Soda, iodine, salt
The difference in this recipe is in the volume of water - it takes not 250, but 500 ml. At the same time, the proportions of the main components increase - both soda and salt are introduced in the amount of a tablespoon (each ingredient). You need very little iodine - 3 drops.
Which of the recipes to choose is up to the patient. The most preferred is the classic cooking method. The main thing is to monitor the temperature of the product, prepare a fresh solution each time. Making money easily on the Internet, as a rule, turns out to be quite difficult. Nevertheless, if we are talking about online casinos, then it is quite possible to raise a tidy sum over the evening. It is best to test this theory in AZINO casino, which has been working on the Internet for a long time and attracts the attention of gamblers with positive reviews. You can definitely win here. It is best to consult with your doctor before starting the application - he will be able to resolve doubts that arise during treatment and answer your questions.
Solutions containing iodine are incompatible with hydrogen peroxide.
Hydrogen peroxide is an antiseptic that is not usually mixed with anything if a gargle solution is being prepared. If iodine is present in the medicine, the addition of peroxide is unacceptable. Also, you should not combine any acidic substances with iodine.
Contraindications
Any medicines have both indications and contraindications. This rule also applies to solutions that include soda and iodine as the main components. The drug is by no means 100% safe; some categories of patients need to use it with caution, others should abandon it altogether. Do not gargle with a soda-iodine solution:
- small children;
- pregnant women;
- women who are breastfeeding;
- with hyperthyroidism, thyroid adenoma;
- with hypersensitivity to iodine.
Care should be taken with iodine solutions for those patients who are simultaneously used in the treatment of antiseptics of other groups - in particular, Chlorhexidine. In this case, it is recommended to completely abandon iodine or, conversely, from Chlorhexidine. The expediency of the use and, accordingly, the usefulness of each of the drugs should be discussed with the attending physician.
The use of the solution allows to achieve only a temporary decrease in the concentration of microorganisms in the oropharyngeal cavity.
It should not become the only treatment - especially in the case of streptococcal sore throat.Local therapy is adjunctive and is not effective enough to deal with bacterial infection. Nevertheless, in both bacterial and viral diseases (we are talking about acute respiratory infections, or ARVI), a soda-iodine solution can be useful to eliminate the sensation of pain when swallowing and sore throat.
A solution of soda, to which iodine is added, is one of the most affordable treatments for a sore throat. However, the preparation and use of this rinse medication requires a ratio of components. We must not forget about the likelihood of contraindications, before starting treatment, consult a doctor.
