pesky throat

Because of the hot & extremely dry environment here these days (summer in the desert is hell!) coupled with my afternoon fruit smoothies and an ice cream the other evening after we went brisk walking, I'm now nursing a very painful sore throat. And of course I can't take any meds for this. I have to make do with home remedies like salabat, although I can't drink that much also or else I'll end up dry as a prune by the end of the day. Then there's gargling with saline solution (someone advised me to add some vinegar to it) every few hours, and hot water with lemon and honey. SIGH... like Winnie the Pooh says, "Oh, bother..."