Ah spring! 
Tis the season to be sneezin' - and it's no laughing matter for singers and public speakers! 

Your body decides that some particle is a foreign invader and has to be stopped at all costs... even at the cost of inflaming your sinuses, nasal passages, throat and/or vocal cords. Sometimes allergies can trigger an asthma attack in your bronchial tubes. And to add insult to injury, your inflamed tissues act like mucky Petri dishes awaiting to birth the next overgrowth of bacteria, fungi, etc to launch your spring cold. What can you do???

• First line of defense: Raise your hydration to thin out excessive mucus. Drink like a fish... and breathe in steam from various sources such as a shower or hot bath, a pot of steaming water with towel draped over your head, personal steam inhalers such as MyPurMist .

• Many allergy sufferers report significant reduction in symptoms by rinsing the offending particles out with a Neti pot or other sinus rinsing gadget. If you fear contracting bacterial infection or brain eating amoebas, read articles by The Survival Doctor about "how to use a Neti pot safely" ... and "the best way to irrigate sinuses without a Neti pot".

• Have throat soothing drinks available during your vocal rehearsals and performance. Diluted pineapple juice (about 1/4 juice to 3/4 water), cayenne-lemon-water, ginger tea... all can work wonders for soothing and hydrating irritated tissues.

• Try herbal remedies such as butterbur, peppermint, cayenne, ginger,  oil of oregano, echinacea, etc. Turmeric and curcumin have been shown to reduce chronic inflammation and symptoms of allergies and asthma. Here is another scientifically vetted resource... the definitive guide on Tumeric. Check with a doc if there is the chance you are allergic or have other reaction to an herb (for instance, some cannot take echinacea without heart racing and adverse reaction). Then experiment and find what works for you. CAUTION: Don't experiment with herbs on the day of performance... try them out before!

• Use prevention... avoid allergens as much as possible. Common sense, but I can't tell you how many of my highly susceptible people who have animals to which they are allergic! Clean house... wash and replace filters, pillows, throws, etc. Get air purifiers in your house... at least in your bedroom! Some come with not only true HEPA filters but also ionizers and UV light to disinfect the air.

•  Minimize your use of over-the-counter (OTC) remedies that can dry you out. Again, try these things out when you don't have an important performance scheduled and notice how they affect your voice when you talk or sing. In an emergency gig situation, prescription steroid nasal sprays work but can be addictive. If you use steroids, count on going on voice rest after the gig you need them for. 

• Using throat pain anesthetic sprays is NOT a good idea for performance. There are several reasons, the main one is that the numbness can fool you into thinking you can push your wounded voice so hard you sustain lasting vocal damage.

• Rest your voice as much as possible. GET SOME GOOD SLEEP! And try not to sleep on your back, allowing post nasal drip to coat your throat tissues all night. Sleep on your side.

• Warm your voice up with correct form exercises and use great vocal technique! When you do as I teach and pull instead of push your voice, you will be using breath support/control balance that will keep you from excessively winding and drying out the edges of your vocal cords. Your throat should also not get tight.

• Decide whether or not to cancel your performance. Stuffy nose and sinus? I wouldn't record a master lead vocal but you should be fine for live performance. You'll just sound a bit more resonant with thicker m's and n's. Where does it hurt when you sing? Do you just have irritated throat tissues from post-nasal drip, or does it hurt at vocal cord level (laryngitis)? Consider canceling.

• And finally... deal with the root of your allergy issue. There are alternative health remedies that really work such as acupuncture and progressive types of allergy shots (ask your doctor about these).

OK here's where the audience participation part of this post happens... what remedy ... medical or alternative ... has worked for YOU?  Stuffy noses would love to know!

Labels: allergies, Dr. Dwaine Allison, H2O Overdrive, Judy Rodman, neti pot, surperior vocal health, survival doctor, vocal exercise, vocal technique, vocal warmup