JPF Home Page Forums Musician Gear and Techniques Microphone and Vocalist Forum That Time of Year...Sinus and Throat Probs! :-(

I guess it's the ragweed around here, but this is when I start getting sore throats and sinus drippage. Allergy meds don't really do much. A shot of whiskey might be a quick band-aid (or make me FEEL like I'm better, LOL) but it's bad in the long run. Any other singers go through this? Any good tricks of the trade? The worst of it happens from December through February for me, with the cold, rainy, yucky weather. I'm fine from about March through October.

Actually, yes. I got this from a radio station DJ. They're kind of "show must go on" people. I had a three-hour gig--all my stuff--and I'd come down with the flu, and had laryngitis (always happens at the tail end of a flu).

Apple cider vinegar (it's important it be the apple cider kind, and I don't know why)--as big a dollop as you can stand--in hot water. Add enough honey to make it palatable. Repeat a lot.

I did that for a couple days before the gig, and I was surprised--it really worked. It actually felt *comfortable* to sing, and doing it for three straight hours didn't bother me a bit.

Instead of drinking Coke (which is what I'll usually have in a bar, 'cause I don't drink), or coffee (which is what I drink at home), I had the bartender keep feeding me cups of peppermint tea--again, with lots of honey--while I was on stage. The honey, of course, helps coat your throat, and the peppermint tea is just "comfort food"--I always drink it when I have a cold.

But you might try the vinegar/hot water/honey thing and see if it works for you. It did *not* make the flu go away, but it did enable me to deliver a performance despite it.

Joe

Thanks Joe, and thanks for the guitar advice too.

I'm a bourbon girl, but I know that's not good for the throat in the long run. I'll try your "elixer" and see if it does any better.

I was wondering if anyone out there had any special meds that their doctor prescribed?

Hi Polly
Get yourself a Neti pot...They are readily available...and wash out yuor sinuses once or twice a day...this will help. Google Neti pot ( I just got a cheap one at Walgreens that came with 100 packs of a salt solution that you use ) It was only $15.

thanks for the advice
i indeed take too much caffeinne and coke

my cellist once told me to boil some whine red with some spice (red pepper), i am not sure thist might work but hot wine did help. You can also use hot lemonade with honey, and boil just water and inhale it for a while. Drink a lot of water to keep the mucus away, and avoid milk the day you sing.
Wake up early and drink water in abundance, if it doesn't work you'll find some mucolytics in the chemist
I also take propolis, it's a natural substance that enhance your defenses and work particularly well for the throat.

Along the same lines, check out these previous posts:
http://www.jpfolks.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/ubb/showflat/Number/572484/page/1#Post572484

Water, water, drink lots of water. Staying hydrated (and we are usually more DEhydrated than we realize) helps a LOT - it thins out the *yucky stuff* and keeps the vocal cords wet. Avoid caffeine; it's a diuretic. Alcohol will also dry you out...isn't THAT ironic!! Vitamin C is good for the immune system, but it is also a diuretic. Keep those vocal cords wet.

Antihistamines and mentholated cough drops can be rough. Use antihistamines and decongestants only if you must (in order to breathe) and as sparingly as possible.

Olive leaf throat spray (health food stores) and slippery elm lozenges help. There is also an Olive leaf nasal spray that I've used.

Remember that everything may be inflamed, so be gentle with your voice. Take more time warming up. Get plenty of rest. What you can usually "get away with" -- don't try!

Lots of good advice here, and thanks, Tom, for posting that thread. Seems we revisit this topic on a seasonal basis! But it is a beast for vocalists, and it seems like new things pop up every time we discuss it, which is a good thing!

stay healthy,

Brenda

hot water{not boiling} gurgle..in which little bit salt added..will help you to open up the throat very well..!!

try once..!! not joking./.!!

if i may
and i don't want to come across as high horsing it
but its all in the diet
cut out breads and cheeses and other mucous forming foods
eat more salads and vegetables
then slowly but surely the mucous will dissipate
and you should feel like a million dollars
also some strenuous exercise is good and of course a swim
take a bit a water up the schnozzle, then blow it all away
seems a bit long winded but i definitely works

Diet IS key. Good points there Charlie.

For the nose water, you can cup your hand and put the warm, salt water, with just a drop or two of lemon from a mug, and snort it up to to then blow out, over and over. Sea salt might be good. Anyone know?

Plenty of water too, on a regular basis. Not too much though. 6 ounces at a time.

OK, one night I was street performing...by 10:30 I lost my voice to laryngitis...could not sing for almost 10 days (This started out with only post nasal drip and didn't even feel like a cold then all of a sudden larlyngitis) I got over that problem, started to sing 3 times then 2 days off, but then I ended up with a stuffy nose and well my voice seems a bit scratchy. If I try to sing like this maybe I will hurt my voice? I don't think I can sound good now anyways, voice sounds pebbly... I have been singing outside in subway stations...one station is very very cold...the others are not...any advice?
I know singers who boil ginger root with lemon and honey and drink that before a singing gig when they have a cold. I am going to try the apple cider vinegar right now...and trying to drink enough water.

Another thing is to get well trained on some real vocal fundamentals to keep yourself out of danger. I'm particularly fond of the techniques used in the Lessac method (mostly a theatre thing) - especially developing (and using as a regular exercise) something called "Y Buzz" - once you know how, and use it, it can do wonders on an ailing voice.

Lessac is best learned from a master instructor though, not really a DIY thing.

Edit: Man, I'm a thread killer. I'd also like to add that I endorse the Neti idea. It takes some getting used to, but it can help a lot when things are really clogged up, and theoretically help even more when used regularly.

3 drops of eucalyptus oil in a cup of hot water. Cover with a lid. Inhale vapor into throat. It will sooth the throat beyond anything you've ever tried for hoarse throat.
Don't use your voice between gigs, drink room temp water, no sodas, whiskey, beer, wine, or acidic beverages. I guarantee the eucalyptus oil vapor. For congestion black pepper in chicken broth, thai food, ect. are all natural decongestants.

Peace on and offshore,
Scotty Lee

Heavy steroids!

I tried a tea called "Throat Coat" from a GNC store. It did help some. It's got a bunch of different herbs in it, Echanacia(sp?), licorice root, some other stuff. It doesn't taste too bad, mostly like licorice.

Bob, you're so funny! You know, when I take Methylprednisone I do feel like a million bucks and my voice is better! Too bad I can't take that stuff a lot. I take it like, once a year for really bad poison ivy.

I once early in my career, had to visit a throat specialist. I was a soloist, one man, one guitar, who played 6 nights a week, eventually I started getting soar throats and losing my voice. If I was going to continue singing for a living I needed answers right away.

Here's a few of the things he turned me on too, and following them I never had a problem again.

First, and most importantly, don't scream, or do things that aggravate your vocal chords. I use to do a Louis Armstrong impression of "Hello Dolly"...very gruff...had to stop that.

Second , never drink anything shortly before or during a show that has ice in it , or is extremely cold, including water.

Third, if i began to get hoarse, or my throat felt sore, swallow a teaspoon of honey a couple times a day till it went away. Honey is very medicinal, coats the vocal chords, reduces inflamation, and inhibits infections.

Last and the most effective was don't drink any type of alcohol!! I laughed when he said it , and he told me if you have to drink, there's a product called Rock N Rye...its a drink made from fruits,is very medicinal, it's kind of syrupy in substance, get a shot and sip it during your show or while on break. The stuff was a miracle worker! Not too hard on the palette either.

I sang 5 or 6 days a week for 35 years and never had a throat problem again.

Billy Darnell

oh one more thing...If anyone ever offers to let you eat the fruits in the Rock N Rye bottle when it gets empty...DO NOT DO IT !!!

Something about the natural sugar in the fruit attracts the pure alcohol and holds it. If you eat just one grape or orange slice I guarantee you the next set you do, you will be lying on your back singing to the ceiling, because you wont be able to stand up.

Figured I would save you an embarrassing moment.

Billy

Okay, so, Rock n' Rye, minus the fruit. I have had it before, and you're right, it's not bad at all. I'm a bourbon girl myself, but I can adjust.

Wish you could have saved me other embarrassing stage moments, including "wardrobe malfunction" (tube top goes down and I'm unaware) and that one particulary HORRIBLE time I stepped out of the ladies room and onstage with about FIVE FEET of toilet paper stuck to the stilleto heel of my shoe (didn't know). Yeah, I'm so cool!

Well Polly don't worry your in good company, Tanya Tucker has always had that losing her top problem...lol...and that's not the first time I heard about trailing toilet paper either. Ahhhhhhh the trials and tribulations of being in the public eye aye?


Good luck.

Billy Darnell