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Cold and Flu Management for Singers

Mixdown Magazine Article

Once again, winter is upon us, bringing with it the cold and flu season. When you are sick, you don’t even want to get out of bed, much less want to sing. This time of year can prove to be a nightmare for both amateur and professional singers. I am going to give you some tips on how to ease the pain and vocally survive this time of year so that you can keep on singing.

cold and flu management for singers

cold and flu management for singers

Nip it in the Bud

One of the most important things you can do as a performer or singer is to begin managing a cold or flu on the first day you start feeling symptoms. You must begin taking care of yourself on day one, not three or four days later when the illness is fully blown. A common cold should last five to seven days; the flu may last a few days longer. So, if you feel the onset of a bug, please take the following preventative measures as soon as possible.

Physical Rest

If you feel a cold coming on, don’t go running around, socialising, exercising and physically exerting yourself. Your body is fighting the cold; help it fight by getting plenty of rest.

Eat Well

Garlic and onions both contain immune boosting compounds to help fight off colds and flus. Try cooking with garlic and onions every day while you are sick. Your partner and friends may not appreciate it but this will greatly improve your immune system.

Big Doses of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is an important vitamin and antioxidant that assists in keeping the body healthy. Vitamin C is found in many citrus fruits so try to have four or five oranges or grapefruit per day when you are sick. If you do not like citrus fruit you can purchase ascorbic acid (vitamin C powder or tablets) from the chemist. Again, vitamin C will massively boost your immune system.

Vitamins

A high quality multi-vitamin is essential to your everyday health and you can find specific cold and flu multi-vitamins at most chemists. Cold and Flu supplements will be higher is immune boosting vitamins such as echinacea, zinc, garlic and vitamin C. Cod liver oil tablets are also highly recommended as they are high in vitamin D and vitamin A to assist your body in absorbing nutrients.

If your throat is sore, suck on some good-quality throat lozenges, not lollies or anything with menthol in them as the menthol will strip back the natural mucus lining of the vocal chords. I recommend Strepfen, Difflam, or Throat Clear lozenges. I would also suggest gargling warm salt water every hour if you have a sore throat. Salt water will dehydrate your throat creating an environment in which bacteria is unable to survive.

You should try to not speak for the first hour after you wake up. The first thing to do when you wake up is to drink 300-500ml of water, hydrating your body quickly. Before you start to speak, warm up your throat by humming gently within a small section of your vocal range. If you can, limit your talking during the day. If you need to speak, support your voice with a proper diagrammatic breath (refer to my article on diaphragmatic breathing).

Avoid all dairy products when you are sick. Dairy will create more mucus and phlegm for bacteria to form. This will cause your voice to strain, making it harder for you to sing. Keep your body hydrated when you are sick by drinking plenty of room temperature water throughout the day. Allow your body to stay at an even temperature by keeping warm and dry. Do not stand in the rain and dress warmly if you have to venture out into the cold.

In conclusion, You want to nip a cold or flu in the bud as soon as you possibly can! If you are following all of the above mentioned tips and find that your cold or flu continues to worsen after five days I would highly recommend seeing your local doctor or GP. If you are coughing up a lot of green, yellow or grey coloured mucus and phlegm this could be a sign of a bacterial infection and your doctor may prescribe a course of antibiotics if they deem necessary. Also consult with your doctor if you have lost or are losing your voice as this could be a sign of laryngitis.

Performing When Sick

When performing or rehearsing while you are sick, it is important that you are able to hear yourself clearly and adequately through either your foldback or ear monitors. Never scream or yell over the top of the band. If you find the band is too loud, your ears are blocked or you are getting a bad mix, use your head voice and focus on listening to your vocals. Do not push your voice past its’ limits when you are unwell.

When you are unwell, it generally takes longer to warm up so leave yourself plenty of time to focus on using the correct vocal and warm up techniques.  I recommend beginning with a humming, burble or baby buzz scale exercise. Then, move on to light scales until your voice feels fully warmed up. Once you feel that your voice is

It is imperative that proper diaphragmatic breathing and support is used when singing whilst you are sick to come to the aid of your voice so that your voice does less work and your diaphragm more.

If you are losing your voice, then you really don’t have much of a voice to use in the first place. Tune your set or songs down as many steps as you think you need for you to safely sing through the whole set. If you happen to start losing your voice midway through a set or performance, cut the peaks and high notes off your melodies to make it easier for you to sing and complete the performance.

So should you sing when you have a cold? Well the answer is YES!

A cold or flu generally will not impair any areas needed for singing, but laryngitis and bronchitis will.
98% of the time you will not lose your voice with a common cold or flu. Yes you may lose one or 2 notes from your range, but laryngitis, meaning losing your voice completely is very rare. Please always sing with caution and correctly warm-up when sick.

A cold or flu will generally not impair your ability to sing however, laryngitis and bronchitis will.

98% of the time you will not lose your voice due to a common cold or flu. Yes, you may lose one or two notes from your range, but laryngitis, losing your voice completely, is very rare. Although you can still sing when you are unwell, please always remember to follow the correct technique when warming up and sing with caution and care.

Summary of rules when you are sick are:

  1. Start precautionary measures at the 1st sign of a cold or flu.
  2. Take care of yourself and your voice.
  3. Always warm up before singing and use proper diaphragmatic breathing and support.
  4. Monitor, feel and gauge how your voice is feeling.

Until next time, stay warm, much respect and always to have fun singing!













































































































































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