12 WAYS TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR VOICE

If you are a singer, you know perfectly well how difficult it is to maintain a healthy “tone of voice”. Especially during cold winters, the arrival of strong winds or dry air thanks to air conditioners, or the lovely rain period. In short, nature sometimes does not help us. But even everyday life always puts us to the test. For example, I work with children almost every day, those who are teachers know well that trying not to raise your voice is one of the first goals to be achieved. Or simply a stressful period brings your immune defences to lower, and here the voice leaves you or the sore throat comes. That is why the singer wears a scarf, foulard almost always around their neck.

But how can we help each other? How can we take care of our hidden instrument, the voice?

Lately, I’ve been suffering from low voice and my body has decided to tell me that I needed a period of recovery. Here I started to seriously worry about my voice and look for all possible remedies to heal as soon as possible. You can imagine my joy: the day before singing at a wedding I had a throat simply on fire, coughing and I could hardly speak for as long as I was aphonic.

The remedies that I will list in the post, of course, are never comparable to a visit to the doctor! It never hurts to be controlled by those who really understand our problems and have studied to heal you.

But also grandma’s remedies…who doesn’t trust grandma?!?!

So let’s start with ways to take care of your voice:

1. Drink plenty of water.

I am totally not a good drinker. This is definitely one of the facts that helps me lose my voice often. So I recommend you drink as much water, your throat will thank you as the rest of your body!

2. Gargles with water and salt.

The famous night before the wedding, this treatment gave me immediate relief. I couldn’t believe it there, but the salt disinfected me and took away that feeling of intense burning. Super recommended! I recommend, do not drink it … it is not pleasing!

3. Drink tea with lemon and honey.

Let’s assume that I don’t like tea. But in this last period, I think I have finished a whole bag of tea in less than 5 days. Calming, disinfectant and simple. Recommended! My best alternative is tea with lemon and ginger! I love ginger and it is a detoxifying.

4. Drink Milk with Honey.

Alternative to tea. Many people don’t recommend milk because it increases the amount of mucus in your body, but I personally prefer it. It gives me more relief while I drink it than normal tea. Granny’s remedy says to add some cognac! Like all liqueurs containing a high percentage of alcohol, cognac disinfects the throat and relieves irritation. Try it to believe.

5. Steam with water and bicarbonate.

To soften the jaws and mucus and soothe the throat. They are always good for you and even these are very easy to do, maybe before going to bed. They are also very useful for the skin of your face. You need a pot of steaming hot water, a towel with which to create a sort of Indian tent that covers the head and pot to convey the vapours. Bicarbonate is an excellent remedy for nasal mucosa. Just two tablespoons in a bowl of boiling water to breathe the vapours for at least 10 minutes. Even chamomile instead of bicarbonate can be very useful.

6. Don’t talk and just breathe through your nose.

Resting your voice is like sleeping. If we are physically tired, sleep brings us back energy. The same thing is silence. The throat strives for every word/sound we emit. So a good few hours of silence help us to recover from any efforts or sore throat. Master Bocelli, for example, before each of his performances, makes an internal day of silence.
Years ago I went to visit the vocal cords. The doctor asked me at the first checkup “do you breathe more with your mouth?”. Thinking about it carefully, the answer was “yes”. During the night I tend to sleep open-mouthed (mmmh sexy) and playing the bassoon is spontaneous and normal to take breaths with the mouth, but also singing. But even if I simply ride a bicycle to work, I sometimes find myself breathing with my mouth. The air is full of microbes and bacteria and our respiratory defences are found first of all in the nose, where we have mini hairs that block the entrance of these. But above all, direct air enters the throat and this only annoys it more easily and quickly. Accurate breathing techniques can help you get used to breathing in a certain way, but just thinking about it a little more helps us not to use our throat too much.

7. Eat candies for your throat.

There are so many brands of candy that are made just to reduce sore throat or coughing. Of course, you should never exaggerate, but during the day they can help. Fresh licorice and Honey candies are maybe good tips.

8. Eat ice or ice cubes.

During these fantastic nights of insomnia due to coughing, a fantastic companion of misadventures was the glass full of ice cubes. It was the advice of a colleague of mine and indeed by a certain relief, even if you feel a bit of an idiot. I haven’t tried it yet, but certainly more satisfying, to eat a nice icicle. Some people are of the opinion that having an inflammation in the throat it is better to act with something cold to skim. Try it!

9. Eat the right food.

Vegetables are the most recommended, even compared to fruit. Dairy products to eliminate (I can’t do it…I’m a parmesan lover). No spicy food. No alcohol, of course.

10. Eat Garlic.

Eat a piece of garlic, removing its soul or you’ll stink for life and swallow it whole. Remember not to die suffocated! This is one of the best natural remedies probably. Honestly, I’ve never tried it because I could vomit a second later, but I’m sure it’s very useful because garlic has antibacterial properties.

11. Eat onion.

The onion acts as a natural fluidifying, antibacterial and antiviral remedy. Therefore, this humble vegetable can be considered a useful cure in case of coughing.
To obtain the greatest benefits, it is recommended to consume the onion in the form of concentrated broth.

12. Go to the doctor.

Simple syrup or mouth spray can already help a lot. But never underestimate the symptoms. Going to the doctor is always a way to get the opinion of those who know what to do. Surely, as happened to me, sometimes we need antibiotics or other medicines, where we need a doctor’s prescription. An extra check-up never fails.

Let me know with a comment if you know any other remedies!! Sharing is caring!!