You’re sick…great.  You also have an audition next week…fantastic…

What do you do to get better as quickly as possible? 

Here are some of my favorite tips.  Keep in mind, these suggestions are universally healthy, but each singer is different so you may discover things that work even better, or adjustments you need to make to these suggestions to get your voice back on track as quickly as possible!

1. Force Hydrate

Drink at least a liter of water as soon as you get up, before you do anything else.  When I get a huge amount of water in my system first thing in the day as opposed to working up to my ideal goal by the end of the day, it makes a big difference for me. I cannot stress enough how important hydration is .  If you’re not peeing clear, you’re not drinking enough. 

If you have a hard time with regular tap water, drink carbonated water.  There is no science to suggest any negative effects.  Smart water and other water with electrolytes is also proven to help your tissues absorb the moisture even faster, so if you can afford the extra money, go with smart water, or mix in some smart water with plain old tap or filtered water. 

2.  Nasal Rinse

A nasal rinse will help wash out some of the excess gunk in your nasal passage and more importantly, help stop that post nasal drip from causing issues.  You can safely do a nasal rinse at least 2 times a day, more than that may dry you out too much, but talk to your ENT if you have specific questions. Click here for my favorite nasal rinse bottle.

3.  Mucus Thinners

Good old Mucinex will make things feel a lot better right after a cold when most of the issue is just getting rid of all that extra phlegm the body created as it dealt with whatever was attacking you.  You can use the generic  version of Mucinex, Guaifenesin, which costs a lot less, but some ENT’s say that Mucinex is more effective.  You can try both and see what you think.  Start with a smaller dose and work up if you need more, this stuff REALLY dries you out.  Also take it at night, so the worst of the drying happens while you’re sleeping. A good alternative to Mucinex is Bragg’s apple cider vinegar, which also thins mucus but will wear off faster than Mucinex if the drying is too severe and makes you uncomfortable.  Experiment with a very small amount of apple cider vinegar to start as well, it’s powerful! 

4.  Allergy Spray

If you’re a singer, chances are you also deal with allergies.  Using your allergy nasal spray, even if it’s during the winter, when we typically don’t have allergies, but usually get colds, you can cut down on that post nasal drip and the excess phlegm in your nose and heal up faster!  Don’t over-use your nasal spray though, it can dry you out too much, or cause other issues.   

5. Zicam

I’m naturally skeptical of any remedy, especially natural remedies, but every single time I’ve taken Zicam at the beginning and during a cold, my voice comes back faster.  I don’t understand the science yet, but if it works, it works…I highly recommend it to help your voice return to full health as fast as possible. 

6.  Cardio

A huge part of getting rid of all that excess phlegm is exercise.  You won’t feel like exercising, heck I know I don’t even when I’m not just coming off of a crappy illness, but it is VERY effective in getting rid of extra gunk and helps you feel better mentally as well.  Cardio is your best buddy in this instance.  Nothing wrong with lifting and other forms of exercise, but cardio does the best job at moving that stuff out of the body in my experience. 

7. Anti-Inflammatories

Ibuprofen and Aleve (Naproxen) can really help to get that vocal fold swelling down.  However, your teacher was right, don’t sing heavy when you take these medications.  It’s harder to feel fatigue and potentially dangerous vocal conditions when you are taking them, that’s the point!  So, take them before bed, or when you are not singing, and let them help that tissue return to normal size and deal with some of the swelling and inflammation that can happen during illness. 

8. Avoid Coughing

It feels like you just can’t avoid it sometimes, but if you cough hard over and over for days, your voice will have a hard time returning to normal conditions.  That voiced cough and the subsequent loud clearing of the phlegm right after, is really tough on the vocal folds.  If you have to cough, try to do an invoiced cough or just swallow the gunk down.  At night, try to do the nasal rinse and allergy spray before bed so that post-nasal drip doesn’t trigger as many coughing spells through the night.  If it helps to use some good old cough syrup to knock yourself out and numb the throat, go for it.  Coughing is expensive on the voice! 

9. Humidify

You can stand in a hot shower, or just sit in a bathroom with the shower on as hot as it will go, or use a personal humidifier, but humidifying is a great way to help break up the excess gunk after an illness.  Your throat will feel wonderful as well from all that soothing warm steam you breathe in and out.  It’s important to note that though humidifying can help break up the phlegm so you can clear it out, the effects of the humidity last only about 20 minutes afterwards. 

10.  Sleep

I know, it goes without saying, especially since with post nasal drip it’s really hard to even sleep without hacking up a lung, but sleep is one of the best things you can do to recover quickly after illness.  Use a sleep aid if you need to, but find ways to get good sleep if at all possible.  You  may feel  better physically, but the better sleep you get, the more energy your body will have to fight all the “leftovers” following an illness.  Don’t underestimate the positive effect this can have. 

Once you start to feel yourself again and can make some sound, it’s important to ask yourself the following question:

Does it get worse or better when I sing?

When we’re recovering from illness, our voices usually do one of two things.  Either the sound gets better little by little when we carefully warm up, or we seem to generate more phlegm and things feel worse when we sing a bit.  After you are feeling physically better, and just dealing with the after effects of illness, pay close attention to which of these two things happen. If it’s getting better, lots of humming and buzzing will get you back on track.  If it’s getting worse, keep hydrating and keep that voice on rest as long as you can, then try again in a day or so. 

Are there other things that you do to get your voice back on track? 

You will get better if you just take care of yourself and don’t try to force things, but it’s frustrating and potentially panic inducing when you have an upcoming performance or audition and the voice isn’t coopering yet. Above all, try not to panic. 

If a few days pass after your illness “ends” and you are not getting any better or it’s getting significantly worse.  Make the time to get in to your ENT to check things out just to make sure there’s not another issue on top of the cold or virus that you’ve just dealt with.  Sometimes those initial illnesses can develop in to other issues along the way. 

Ok singers, stay healthy, good luck!