I've been suffering from a really bad bout of sore throat/inflamed esophagus from acid reflux. It started with a lump in my throat and ended up with a burning throat, stabbing feeling in my chest, painful swallowing--all of the classic esophagitis symptoms. After four months, I finally got it under control and it feels almost normal again.
Over the past few months, I searched SO many message boards, looking for a solution. I figured I'd post here what has worked for me.
First of all, you've got to get on a PPI to stop the acid. You've got a burn in your throat and you have to make sure you don't bathe it in any more stomach acid. I hate taking any meds, period, but my gastro doc informed me that I could either buckle down and take the meds or suffer through this. For me, Prevacid worked. I started out with the over-the-counter Prevacid for a week (I had to ease into it, as it gave me headaches; I just took Tylenol for the headaches until my body adjusted and the headaches stopped after about a week) and then switched to the prescription strength (30 mg once a day).
Secondly, watch what you eat. Even if you are taking the medication, if you eat something that is a huge trigger, you'll likely still get reflux. Take it easy on alcohol and caffeine (which loosens the esophageal sphincter and allows acid into your throat), and heavy, fried foods, tomato-based foods, garlic, raw onions, etc. If you have an acid flare-up, you can take an antacid with your PPI (I've used Mylanta before bed--especially with heavy eating during the holidays.)
Also--this is HUGE--your throat is burned. Even if they are not acid triggers for you, stay AWAY from spicy foods, acidic things like vinegar and citrus, hard, crunchy things, carbonated beverages, foods that are extremely hot--anything that might further irritate your throat. Imagine that you have an open wound in your throat and ask yourself, "Would this hurt if I poured/rubbed it over a wound?" If you can limit yourself to soft items as much as possible, this does help, but it's unrealistic to eat that way for long, which leads me to the last thing...
This is going to take a while to heal. I've been taking prescription strength Prevacid for over 60 days. I'm on my third 30-day bottle and finally feeling like I can start tapering off of it soon. By the end of the first month on it, I was convinced that it wasn't helping. By six weeks in, I finally started to notice a difference. These meds take a few weeks to really get the acid under control. And once you've stopped the acid, your throat takes a LONG time to heal. My ENT doctor explained that it's like you have an open wound, but you can't just leave it alone to heal because you have to eat, so it's constantly getting rubbed by everything you swallow. Be patient. You will have good days and think, "I'm better! I can eat what I want!" and then eat something stupid and feel horrible for several days. But stick with it and it will heal. You'll start to notice that you're having more and more good days. Assume that it will take at least two months and maybe three or four.
Two final tips I have: Manuka honey and (used carefully) Throat Coat Tea and aloe juice. Manuka honey is a medicinal honey from New Zealand. It's expensive, and to get the medicinal grade stuff (MGO 400+) is even more expensive. The stuff I found in my local store wasn't medicinal grade Manuka, so I bought some from Amazon. I started taking a teaspoon of it just before bed (so it could coat my throat as I slept) and first thing in the morning. A friend of mine who lives in New Zealand says it's not quack science; the doctors there actually use this stuff in their offices. Either way, it coated my throat and soothed it. During the day, I've been drinking decaf tea sweetened with tons of regular, cheap honey.
Throat Coat tea is soothing as well. During recent flare-ups, I've tried swallowing a tablespoon of aloe juice (either by itself or mixed with a shot of apple juice), which really cools your throat. I say use the Throat Coat tea and aloe juice carefully because anything that contains licorice (which throat coat does) can lower your potassium if you take too much of it. Aloe juice can also lower potassium if overused. I have read that PPI medications can lower potassium. I'm obviously not a doctor and am not giving any of this as medical advice. For me, though, I decided not to take licorice-containing items or aloe juice daily while on my PPI, just in case. I only used them for bad flare-ups. The honey, however, has no side effects and can be taken frequently.
This is what's helped me. Over the past few months, I've read so many, "I've had a sore throat for a year and nothing works" horror stories, which would make me feel extremely anxious. I kept hoping to read just ONE person write, "I'm healed and this is what did it." I guess once people do heal, they don't usually come back and post about it. I hope this helps someone get better...and feel less afraid and discouraged in the meantime.