Have you ever had a sore throat so painful that it was difficult to speak, or swallow? Perhaps you were so miserable that even the excuse for an all-ice-cream diet didn’t even come close to making you feel better. That’s pretty miserable! Sore throats can be extremely debilitating! If accompanied by a cough, a sore throat can make it especially difficult to work or carry out your daily routine without disrupting those around you. And a sore throat can keep you up at night and take away your energy.

While some experts suggest riding it out and letting nature take its course, there are several things you can do that can help alleviate those annoying symptoms and put you on the road back to wellness. Whether the cause is the common cold, the flu, air conditions or allergies, if a sore throat is troubling you, consider these remedies:

Set up a humdifier. Often dry air can cause a sore throat or make an existing sore throat feel even worse. Add moisture back into the air with a humidifier. If you’re pulling an old humidifier out of the closet, don’t forget to clean it before plugging it in so you don’t circulate bacteria and particles that may have collected in it over time back into the air. Follow the manufacturer’s cleaning recommendations.

Keep you throat moist. Drink plenty of water and apple juice, but avoid alcohol and juices with a high acid content, such as orange or grapefruit juice, which can irritate the throat even more.

Chew on some garlic. Okay, maybe not literally—especially if you have a big presentation to do—but the allicin in garlic has been shown to reduce the duration of a sore throat. If you can’t mix raw garlic into food to dilute its smell, take garlic tablets instead.

Soak up the germs. Activated charcoal powder, mixed with water to form a paste, can absorb germs that cause a sore throat when sucked on and can bring throat misery to a quicker end.

Load up on Vitamin C. This powerful antioxidant has potent protective and healing benefits. If orange juice irritates your sore throat, take it in supplement form instead.

Put these natural remedies in motion next time you have a sore throat and you’ll be sure to feel better faster. Ok, ok . . . even if you get relief from the above methods, you can still have ice cream – at least for a couple of days!