When not performing, I often teach voice lessons and masterclasses to share my knowledge and experience with others. Every time I am involved in a Q&A session, someone asks, ” How do you take care of your throat?” or “What do you do if you get sick and lose your voice?” Thus, I thought my first blog should be about caring for your throat. I don’t have a medical degree, but one of my passions is reading and studying about natural cures/prevention medicine. Thus, I decided to write an advice blog on my website. If you have any suggestions, please feel free to comment. My advice is based on what has helped me. It may not work for everyone, but it has worked for me in the past. Please keep checking back for healthy singer tips.
We all get sick at some point, especially those of us who spend hours and hours flying back and forth on a plane, or working with others in close proximity. This time of year, with it’s frequent temperature changes is especially difficult. May I suggest a few things to help keep your throat healthy.
Drink plenty of water, get regular sleep, exercise at least 3-5 times a week, and you may be able to avoid getting sick in the first place. However, if you have caught the dreaded cold, or are suffering from allergies, and you notice hoarseness and laryngitis developing, perhaps I can help you.
Often times Laryngitis is brought on by seasonal changes, illness, or breathing in dust or chemicals. However, did you know there is also nerve pressure in the bones of the neck that can cause the same reaction?
1. When you start to feel hoarse the first thing I do is buy fresh ginger, honey and lemons. I boil water, and make a tea of freshly grated ginger, the juice of a lemon, and a touch of honey. Sip slowly over and over, and this should help soothe your throat. While doing this, I try to relieve the tension in my upper chest and neck/back by massaging it. Take note of any tight knots, and try to work them out, as this can lead to almost immediate relief in some people.
2. If possible, soak in a hot bath with epsom salts, as this will open your pores and help you sweat out toxins. Many natural food stores now carry mustard bath, which works well. You can do the same thing at home by peeling a grapefruit and adding the skin to your bath water. The oil from the skin is released into the water, and will almost cause a burning sensation to the skin, as it helps heat your body and stimulate circulation. (It also smells great).
3. Place a HOT compress on the front of the neck and a COLD on the back of the neck, at the base of the skull. This will help stimulate blood flow, to help you recover faster.
4. Increase your Vitamin A, D & C. Taking Elderberry tablets can also help, as they work to stimulate the sinuses and moisturize your nasal passages
5. I am a firm believer in Acupuncture, but that is not always accessible to people. Therefore, there are a few pressure points you should know about. If you are hoarse, try pressing at the following locations. Press a few seconds, release and repeat, or rub the area in a small, clockwise circle.
~press the outside corners of the mouth
~press just above the adams apple in your throat
~press the hollow space in front of each shoulder (about half way down to the armpit)
~press the hollow at the base of the neck. (This is the small circular indentation at the center of your neck when you look in a mirror).
Other things to try:
The gingerpeople.com have created a product called gingins, which are hard ginger candy. They are great for sucking on during times of seasonal change. They also have soft ginger chews, ginger for baking, you name it. Check them out online.
4dshift.com is a website for ordering essential oils mixed by an alchemist in Canada. These are amazingly pure oils, and with over 90 varieties, there is something for everyone. For example, they have a virus out oil which helps you recover faster or not get sick at all, or a flu oil that causes you to fly through the symptoms in a few hours or days, instead of a week. I have found they really work for me.
While working in Germany I also discovered a product called Sinupret (helps heal sinus issues), as well as one called Bronchipret (for Bronchial congestion). Look for them online, as they are available on many websites now.
Good luck, take it easy, and remember your body just needs time and sleep to recover. Wishing you all the best!
You neglected to even mention dairy in your advice column. 99% of people are allergic to dairy, and the overdriven production of phlegm created by the ingestion of milk sugar is, by a very long distance, the chief catalist of illnesses (routine coughs, sinus infections, all “cold” symptoms, the harboring of viruses and bacteria leading to cases of all kinds of influenza and “itis”-es) throughout the U.S.
If Americans would remove all bovine dairy products from their diets completely, we would be a 75% healthier population. You can be sure that all doctors are well aware of this, therefore NEVER advise their patients regarding their diets — their week-in-week-out business would be devastated.
When I present these ideas to people to whom they are new, invariably the responses are” “I love dairy and just would never get off of it” or “that’s ridiculous.”
Occasionally, an interested, intelligent party will experiment with it, removing dairy (it’s difficult) for a month, then ingesting so much as a glass of milk — INSTANT sore throat!
My students are told, from day one of working with me, to avoid dairy, along with all simple sugars if they wish to remain feeling well every day. Sodium and caffeine are at least reduced (no pop for singers), and alcohol is forbade.
Prevention, prevention, prevention.
Thank you for your comment. It is true that dairy causes phlegm, and can be hard on some internal organs, especially if ingested in large amounts. For me, personally, I have a latte almost every day, and didn’t noticed much change when I cut it out of my daily routine, while living in China. I will try to be more aware. Thanks for the advice.