Treatment

Before your healthcare provider decides on treatment, they will want to make sure that you do not have a sore throat for another reason. For example, a viral illness cannot be treated with antibiotics.

However, if you have strep throat, it means you have a bacterial infection. In this case, you would need an antibiotic. There are different antibiotics that treat strep throat, including:

• Amoxicillin
• Penicillin
• Clindamycin
• Cephalosporin
• Clarithromycin
• Azithromycin (called a “Z-pack”)

Your healthcare provider will look at your medical record and talk to you about your health before they decide which antibiotic to give you. For example, if you are allergic to penicillin, they can prescribe you a different kind of antibiotic.

Sometimes, antibiotics are not strong enough to clear up a strep throat infection. This is called antibiotic resistance. If you are being treated for strep throat but your symptoms do not get better, your healthcare provider will change your treatment.

You should stay home with strep throat until you’ve taken antibiotics for 24 to 48 hours. After that, you aren’t contagious and can’t spread strep throat to other people.

It is important to take your antibiotic prescription exactly as instructed. You need to finish all of the medication—even if you start to feel better.

If you stop taking the antibiotics too early, the infection might not clear up. Instead, it might get worse. You could also have serious complications from the infection.¹

Strep throat symptoms like fever, muscle aches, and a headache can usually be treated with over-the-counter (OTC) medicine like ibuprofen. Strep throat home remedies, like having cool drinks or ice pops, can also help to ease throat pain.

Getting plenty of rest, staying hydrated, and eating nutritious meals (even if it hurts to swallow) will also help your body to recover.

Does Strep Throat Go Away on Its Own?

Strep throat symptoms can go away without treatment, usually within a week, but strep throat that’s left untreated can lead to more serious conditions. For example, children with a red-bump rash may have strep that’s led to scarlet fever. It’s important for people to be accurately diagnosed and treated by a healthcare provider.⁷