A Singer's Guide to Being Sick

There is nothing worse than catching a cold during auditions or a show. This post was inspired by a Baritone friend of mine and his attempts as he tries to regain health before a giant trip in which he will be performing.
This got me thinking, how can a singer manage their symptoms?

We all know the age old lecture of "YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO SING WHILE TAKING LOZENGES BLAH BLAH", yet we all do it.

I am guilty for disobeying this age old rule, but it's always for the love of music. What happened to the saying "The Show must go on!", couldn't this ancient saying possibly counter act this rule?

While researching, I managed to find some old blog posts that touch upon this subject while adding a few new tips and tricks!

You can find a guide on how to manage stress here. Stress is a big factor into getting sick, surprisingly. It is important that you find time a midst the overflow of things and activities that you must do. We all need a little me time!

While catching a cold can't always be prevented, I have a past blog post about cold season! You can find it right here.  Hopefully these tricks can help you have a speedy recovery!

Now this might not have anything to do with your sickness, but it is mucus related! (Sorry if that sounds gross, but it's something we all have!) You can find a past post about post nasal drip and mucus here!

Now here are some new tips on managing cold symptoms!

• Vick's Vaporub is a magic drug. If you apply this goo anywhere (specifically the nostrils or the chest) it will help clear up congestion and cough. This is honestly the one thing I go to before taking any kind of niquil or advil.
• Tea is a new found Holy Grail.  Honestly, any kind of tea is soothing. There are specialty tea's for specific symptoms or even tea's meant to clear up certain colds! Tea will also warm up your chest and will hopefully help clear some of the gunk out of your lungs as well.
• Soup Soup Soup. It has the same effect as tea, but it will feed and nourish you. 
• Salt Water is everything. Salt water in a Netipot will help clear your nose from snot! While gargling with salt water can help soothe a sore throat. 
• Vitamins! Try taking some extra Vitamin C, while it's not officially proven to help, can never hurt to try. 

Sometimes, in the end, we need to accept defeat and just deal with having a cold. If that means cancelling a rehearsal (or a gig) to stay in bed an extra day, it's not the end of the world. I understand if singing/performing is your livelihood, but if you aren't healthy then you won't be able to sing. It's better to take a day or two off and get better than to keep battling the same cold!

Hopefully this helps! If you have any questions, comments and concerns, please let me know in the comments below!

Until next time,

Tessa