Quote of The Day:
I have a perfect cure for a sore throat: cut it.
Yikes, that’s a bit drastic. I love Hitchcock, but I have some better advice if you have a sore throat that is putting a damper on your vocal performance. Yes, it is that time of year when we are confined mainly indoors dealing with forced air heat and nasty germs and viruses floating through the air. What is a singer to do? Well, let me give you a few suggestions on how to ward off the viruses that cause a sore throat.
When the thermometer drops and viruses start popping up like crocuses in the snow (can you tell I’m a prairie girl?) taking a few precautions to remain virus free is the first line of defense. First and foremost, wrap up your throat!!! I can’t stress this enough. You must keep the cold finger of winter away from your instrument. My Scottish Grandmother used to say “Ne’er cast a clout till May be out”, which means keep your winter clothes on until you feel the warmth of Spring and if you live on the prairies, you know that just might be the end of May. I start wearing a scarf around my throat as soon as the first frost hits in the fall and it stays there until shorts and sandals season. The next important thing is sleep, ahhhh sleep. Being well rested is a very important element in staying healthy as a singer. If you are running on empty most days of the week and are partying like the rock star you know you are, you will be much more likely to contract something that will affect your throat. Most often the throat is the first place you feel a virus take hold. Upping your vitamin C and D is a good habit to get into during winter as well. Any natural immunity boosters like Cold FX or Emergen-C could be a line of defense to keep bugs at bay. When I know I have upcoming gigs and need to fly to them (planes are some of the worst germ recycling spaces), I will take Cold-FX as directed on the bottle for building immunity about a week before I travel. In all my years of taking it, it has never let me down. Even when I feel the first tickle of a sore throat, it has stopped the bug in its tracks for me if I start taking it right away as outlined on the bottle. One more thing I would recommend is to add some humidity to your home if you wake up in the morning as parched as if you had just taken a hike through the Sahara desert. Cold or warm air humidifiers or having a humidifier on your furnace, will help keep your nasal and throat passages from drying out making it harder for bugs to take hold and decide you are a wonderful host for their vacation. Lastly, washing your hands as often and as furiously as Howard Hughes should cut all odds of contracting something that can keep you from getting behind the microphone. Remember that we singers can’t always call in sick. The reality check is that most likely we have to suck it up and go to work when we feel like crap so the secret is to not get sick in the first place. Stay well my friends.
Until next time… Happy Singing!
Angela
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