September gives way to October, and before you know it…we’re into “cold” season.

Respiratory conditions are the bane of voice-actors (and singers, and broadcasters, and speakers, etc) everywhere.

You don’t have to be a doctor to understand how the human voice is produced.  Vocal cords are:  “…either of two pairs of mucomembranous folds in the larynx.  The lower pair (true vocal cords or vocal folds) can be made to vibrate and produce sound when air from the lungs is forced over them…”  Rhino viruses (cold viruses) of all sorts will effect the spectrum of your ability to speak…from chest congestion, to phlegm buildup in the throat, to raspiness,  to nasal sinus swelling…well…you know all this.

H₂O

Most everywhere you get advice on keeping your voice box healthy and ready-to-perform,  you’ll hear that you should always keep yourself well-hydrated.  Truer words were never spoken.  This means all the time, day in and day out…not just a couple of hours before you are due to record.  Water is preferred…and if you’re feeling thirsty, you’re already behind on  your hydration.

Drinking water all day every day should just become a habit.

Similarly, shouting your head off at your daughter’s soccer game is ill-advised (personal testimony) if you want to maintain the integrity of your “cords”.

Remaining hydrated, though, and refraining from yelling does not answer the need for recovery from or even performing WITH the effects of a cold.

12 WAYS

Therefore, the following is a list of accepted and workable devices and remedies that are worth trying.  No solution works for everyone, but there are a number of ways to at least tackle the dreaded “dragon throat: and still get that narration or :30 spot done. (and trying something engages the “PLACEBO effect”, right?)

COMMERCIAL REMEDIES

1)  Many voice actors swear by THROAT COTE.  It’s an organic herbal tea that may indeed “loosen things up a bit”.  But remember the tea doesn’t go down over the cords…that would be pouring liquid into your lungs.  So if the heat penetrates through to the larynx, or if the moist vapors of the tea are breathed in…then you may actually be onto something.

2)  If you’re getting “stuffed up in your nose”…and you’re especially congested in the nasal cavities of your face, you may want to try a Neti Pot.  You can buy a Neti Pot at  Amazon.com even.  Just Google it to see the plethora of vendors.  Here’s a popular one, though: from the Himalayan Institute.  Here’s another:  SinuCleanse.

3) Entertainer’s Secret Throat Spray is not a cold remedy, but promises to: “…adjust the thickness and flow of the mucous in the sinuses and the passageways of the nose and throat…” and “…this solution helps mend the discomfort of a dry, sore, scratchy throat and the annoyances of a horse, tired voice…”.

4)  Similarly, Thayer’s Dry Mouth Spray answers the same need.  Thayer’s has a whole line of “dry mouth” products…claiming to be organic and natural, including sugar-free, and citrus flavored.

OLD HOME REMEDIES

5)  One old home remedy for sore throat is tea made with lemon, apple cider vinegar, cayenne, and honey. A typical recipe would be made by adding one teaspoon of apple cider vinegar, a tiny pinch of cayenne pepper, the juice of 1/4 lemon, and one teaspoon of honey to a cup of hot water and then stirring. Typically, up to four cups a day is suggested. Honey is also used to soothe a cough.

6)  Other Home Remedies

• Gargle and rinsing your mouth with salt water several times a day. To make a salt water gargle, dissolve one teaspoon of salt in a glass of warm water.
• Use sore throat lozenges to increase saliva production and lubricate the throat. Lozenges shouldn’t be given to young children due to the risk of choking.
• Drink plenty of fluids, which keeps the throat lubricated. Some people get relief by sucking something cold, such as a popsicle, while others find warm drinks, such as warm water with honey, helpful.
• Get plenty of rest.
• Eliminate dry air, which can irritate a sore throat, by using a cold air humidifier.  (above suggestions from http://altmedicine.about.com/od/healthconditionsdisease/a/sore_throat.htm)

7) More Gargle:

HONORABLE MENTION

Chloraseptic (a throat spray analgesic, but it may also deaden your tongue)
Zinc:  some people SWEAR that taking this element at the onset of a cold will trim DAYS off your suffering (same with Vitamin C – orange juice)
Avoid:  pretzels, crackers, chips

What have I missed?  If you have a remedy for sore throat, congestion, or raspy throat that works for you, please comment below, and I’ll add it to the list with credit to you.

Thanks!

CourVO

P.S.  Bettye Zoller reminds me that she has recorded a 10-part series of podcasts on Vocal Health with John Florian’s VoiceOverXtra.  This is an impressive body of work, and a much more in-depth treatment of this topic by someone who’s done graduate-level work in this area.  Click here to see the listing of her series  on VoiceOverXtra.

P.P.S.  Vocal Coach Trish Causey also wrote to me on FaceBook 9-24-11 in reaction to this blog: 

Trish Causey

I saw someone post a link to your blog about 12+ ways to care for your voice, and I wanted to send some info your way. As a voice teacher, I teach from the perspective of functional vocal training (i.e., not opera, Broadway, jazz, etc., as those are styles to be worked later on). I start every student with vocal health lectures and alignment and breathing. So the following is some info I tell all my students, and I thought maybe I’d share it with you as well, if you don’t mind, especially pertaining to a few of the things mentioned in the article.

Never use a throat spray or take cough drops. The sprays numb too many moving parts you need to be able to use in a healthy manner for proper vocal function, and cough drops have chemicals that irritate the vocal tract or the nasal cavity making the initial situation worse. (Especially menthol!  Sugar is an irritant for the lining of the mouth whether it’s glaze on a doughnut or the sweetener in a cough drop. Throat/Cough sprays deaden pain, but at the expense of making you feel fine so you use the voice as you would when you’re healthy, worsening the problem. Also, these sprays and drops tend to have all sorts of chemicals for coloring, flavoring, sweetening, preserving, etc. None of that is healthy for your body, and certainly not the voice… though these things won’t actually touch the voice, these chemicals DO get into the blood stream, and therefore eventually make their way to the musculature of the vocal folds.

The need for throat sprays and cough drops usually arises from eating something you shouldn’t (salty, crunchy, scratchy, or something dairy or wheat that causes an allergic reaction like sinus drainage or dryness), or acid reflux. Most singers and voice professionals who suffer from hoarseness and dryness have undiagnosed acid reflux (so they turn to throat sprays and cough drops — neither of which ever actually affect your vocal folds unless you choke on them! ….

Throat Coat Tea is amazing, so get lots of that (I’ve even seen it at Target). Throat Coast also makes a pastille (throat lozenge) with the same active ingredients as the tea, so it’s fine. The only store-bought cough drop I can recommend in a pinch would be the all-natural, plain-flavoured Ricola… but only until your Throat Coat lozenges arrive… Zinc (the actual supplement not the teacher’s aide stuff) is proven to cut the length of a cold in half, from an average of 8 days down to 4)…

The best way to take care of your voice is water, rest, water, water, more rest, and proper vocal training from a professional (such as myself) so that you understand the mechanics of the vocal instrument and its subsystems (especially breathing — without airflow there is no phonation! So weak airflow equals weak sound production). And laying off dairy helps a lot of people…..

Trish Causey – Voice Teacher