I start reheasrsing on Friday and I am starting to lose my voice. I have been gargling with disposible aspirin and drinking lots of water, but I am trying to remember the name of an excellent vocalthroat spray that always works for ... it has been mentioned before on here but I can't find the tread.
Also, it depends on the kind of cough: if it's tickly it's probably due to mucus dribbling down the back of your throat, making you cough, so it's worth considering an anti-histamine.
I can recommend a general cold remedy called Day and Night which should help in this case.
If it's been going on for a while, or it's due to overusing your voice please, please go to your doctor. If it's an infection that can be improved really quickly.
I was told by my Drama School Vice Principal that a good, easily accesible remedy for losing your voice is to take a *tiny* hit of cider vinegar. Supposedly, it's what opera singers do when they are losing their voice. I've tried it a few times, and, while I wouldn't say it does wonders long term, I think short - term it's not a bad remedy for making your voice sound much less hoarse. However, when I say a *tiny* amount I mean a tiny amount, because cider vinegar also has the side effect of making you dash to the loo, if you're not careful.
Still, I think being hoarse in rehearsals isn't that catastrophic - the best thing to do is to make sure they're well aware you could damage your voice worse if you overuse it, and try to do the rehearsals at a low vocal level, resting your voice when you can. I can certainly say that the very worst thing for a slightly sore throat is to spend all day using your vocal cords to the max (which you can do, surprisingly) and then, you realise next day, that you have no voice at all. If it can all be there for the actual performance, so much the better.
I use Vocalzone when I push my voice hard during very long demanding VO sessions or gruelling shouting ADR days. Also, I find that a big spoonfull of good organic cold-extracted honey in the evening (without drinking over it for about 15mn) really heals irritated throat, just like when you cut yourself and put honey on the cut to help healing the wound.
And yep, plenty of sleep to allow the body to recharge and heal itself.
And if you have nodules have someone qualified to look at it, not just any bog-standard GP, a lot of them simply do not have a clue... Good luck!
if you your hasn't healed then you will have to num your vocal cords you will be able to do whatever you need to do but the nest day you probably wouldn't be able to talk. I recomment garkeling whisky, or sucky vocal zones, one of my friends has the same problem and she used something that begun buttercup? it's multi purpose cough medicine but it is gentle. it comes in a brown bottle and has a green label with buttercup on it and pictures of the flowers on it and it doesn't taste half bad! Leila
That will simply numb the vocal cords and you will not feel any pain, whihc is a warning sign.
As a singing teacher and voice coach, I recommend that you concentrate on your support and make it much more pronounced.
Do not take aspirin or anything that will dry you out as this simply means the vocal folds are not being lubricated at all. Mucus is there to protect your vocal folds.
Get something from the doctor for your cold etc, steam your voice regularly and get as much sleep as you can.
I have tried vocalzone and personally think that it dries you out. I used it for a tour I did and the problme is that it clears your vpice, but i am skeptical how much it helps.
Eat honey by the table spoon as its a natural anti biotic.
I seriously doubt you have nodules, it just sounhds like a cold.
Just get as much sleep as you can and REST this week. Take a few days leave from work and stay at home , have hot baths, take cold and flu capsules and REST, REST , REST.
The tendency is to try and push your vopice when you have a cold...DO NOT do this. Concentrate on your support and if your range is a bit less, then you have to just deal with it, but do not push from the throat. Concentrate on your diagphramatic support and remember that that is your vocal centre, NOT your throat. We all panic and try to push from the throat, and that will eventually bruise your vocal folds.
If this is a matter of over using your voice rather than a cold, take the advice to rest. Especially your voice. Numbing is a bad idea, I knew a professional singer who permanently damaged her vocal chords from pushing too hard. An amazing amount of healing can happen overnight if you stop talking now.
Blake is absolutely right about how to use your voice, and silence is the best when your vocal cords are hurt.
As for vocalzone, I work with my voice virtually every day, sometimes doing vey demanding character voices for cartoons or games for few hours in a row, sometimes spending 8 hours shouting for ADR, and without Vocalzone it'd be hell - I never noticed that it dried me out but then again I drink a hell of a lot of water during those extreme sessions, a thing that I cannot recommend enough when working with your voice, even if it's not as gruelling as that.
Blake, re. honey, I believe it's antiseptic and not antibiotic you meant to type - but it's good ONLY if it's cold extracted. If hot-extracted, it's simply useless as heat kills all active elements. Organic manuka honey is one of the most potent, another one is organic "bourdaine" honey (not sure of the English word for bourdaine) - very very good too.
Hope you are feeling better very soon. I always seem to get a cold from hell when ever I have done schools touring or haven't worked for an age then start rehearsal. All those new bugs I have not been exposed too just go strait for my throat.
But day nurse and doctor theatre always get me through the shows. So don't worry just remember your voice lessons from drama school and make sure you are not pushing from your throat. Then be quiet in between shows.
Also another little trick I learnt from an amazing young people's theatre director is when playing to over excited very young people is - some times being rather slow and quiet can be more attention garbing than being loud.
Manuka honey without a doubt, used to take it before a show when I was on tour with the girlband. It coats the vocal chords and lubricates them!Must be taken cold so don't put it in a lemon and honey drink or it will be useless. More importantly, have a big hug and get better soon Becs! Oh, and good luck!!
Honey is a good one and steaming. Not steaming in honey though! ;0)
I've always been taught not to take cough medicine and sweets etc., cause it dries out your throat.
When I did the rehearsal for the company you are working for, it was pretty intense and I found that I lost my voice when I was there!! If you get the opportunity for not speaking, take it!! Definately rest a lot up till Friday hun and I hope it all goes well.
xx Shannon
I know if you take numbing sweets it just damages them further..
VOCALZONE!! that's it :)
to be honest it is a lot better today but I think I am just over tired. unfortunately I don't have the time to get a good nights sleep as these are my last couple of days at work and I am really busy. :(
Thank you so much for all of your recommendations. :)
Also remember the psychologial side- it could be psychosomatic where you almost self sabotage yourself- a ot of illness is like that so just reassure yourself that you ae capable and confident and able to do the job... and remember that you will love the job (hopefully) and are doing what you love.
Another thing I got told was that if throat lozenges etc. have sugar in them (Vocalzones don't, I think), then if you have a cold, they'll make a sore throat worse, because the bacteria will enjoy feeding off the sugar. Not sure if that's likely to be true or not...but I thought I'd mention it!
Vocalzoen does have sugar, from what i know. If i remember correctly,. They also have menthol which actualy numbs the vocal cords- so i am not sure how effective they really are.
I now think that teh more technique a person has, then you can survive a cold etc, unless the infection has swollen the vocal cords.
That happened to em recently, where i got a bad chest infection and had to have a significant period of vocal rest because I had swelling in the vocal cords due to teh infection. Was very distressing- and the doctor started going on about how he was once a singer and had to stop yada yada.
he got full marks for sensitivity for that!!!!
Anyway- a top singing teacher told me that apparantly the latest reserach says that the ONLY thing that really touches the cords is actually steam. And people who steam three times a day will sort out vocal problems asap.
just remembered that I often use Weleda Medicinal Gargle (which sounds like something out of George's marvellous medicine), which is a lot of essential oils and natural ingredients including tea tree. If I feel a cold/sore throat coming on I gargle with that at night, get lots of rest, and in the morning it's usually gone.
Be warned: it contains cloves, which can be anaesthetic, so only do this the night before- those qualities will have worn off by morning, but the antibacterial stuff will be working all night.
It also works a treat applied topically to pimples- result!
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