Cold and Flu Season as a Professional Voice User: My Essentials
As much as I would like to just close my eyes and pretend it is not happening, cold and flu season is upon us - at least it is here in the Northeast. The weather is cooling off and more people are spending time in close quarters inside which means germs are having the time of their lives. As someone who is very much afraid of germs and getting sick, this time of year is certainly stressful. But an added pressure of this time of year is being a professional voice user and still needing to speak and sometimes perform when I’m feeling under the weather.
Though I always dread this time of year and the inevitable sore throat and runny nose that seems to be never ending as we enter the winter months, there are a few things that make my life a little bit easier as someone who uses their voice for a living. These are some of my essential exercises and products that get me through to the spring.
DISCLAIMER: These are things that work for me personally. Not everything on this list may work for everyone. This is not medical advice. These are things that I use throughout the winter. I am not affiliated with any of the mentioned products. It is ok if these things do not work for you, it just means there is something else better suited for your needs.
#1: WATER (ALL DAY, EVERY DAY)
I know I know I know. Everyone tells you to drink water all of the time. But I find it really does help me to feel better when I am sick, and I always bring a water bottle onstage with me for performances. It really helps if I find the air is dry or my throat is really dry to hydrate in between songs, just so it feels a little less like sandpaper.
For me, I drink more water if it is always with me, so I use a reusable water bottle and I carry it either in my hands or in my bag at all times so there is no chance that I find myself without water throughout the day if I need it.
#2: VOCAL REST (AS MUCH AS I CAN)
This is the hardest thing for me to do personally. But eliminating those small talk conversations, committing to not singing in the car or texting instead of calling really helps my voice when I’m under the weather. I know this is technically the lack of a thing but it is something that I truly use every winter to help my voice recover when I’m sick.
#3: LOZENGES
Now, I love a lozenge when I’m not feeling 100%. But when I’m looking to get onstage and I’m not feeling amazing, I spring for a lozenge that either has honey listed as one of the ingredients or I grab a lozenge that has a honey/liquid filling. I find that these soothe my throat longer than any other lozenges that I’ve tried and they usually taste amazing. I usually have these in my gig bag year round but I make extra sure to have them stocked up during the colder months.
#4: THROAT SOOTHING TEAS
Nobody in my life is surprised that this makes the top 5 essentials. I love tea. I love tea at all times of the day for all different purposes. This is especially true when I’m feeling under the weather. I absolutely love a throat soothing tea that I can have warm for me in a travel thermos wherever I go because not only is it soothing for your throat but it is also a warm beverage which is exactly what I want to reach for when I’m not feeling good. I personally love any throat soothing tea with licorice root but there are so many different types on the market with all sorts of amazing blends of throat soothing ingredients.
#5: HONEY
Semi-related to #4 as you can always add honey into your throat soothing tea but honey is one thing I always reach for when I have any sort of cold or flu that is affecting my voice in any way. I find that it can give me relief from my a dry and scratchy throat and personally I have found that it can decrease the amount of times I’m coughing for a number of minutes after having some. I will either have honey just on a spoon with nothing else (I do love the taste of honey) or I will heat up some water and stir a spoonful of honey into the water and then drink the honey like that.
#6: A HUMIDIFIER
What a lifesaver my humidifier has been for me. Now, I am a mouth breather when I sleep so even when the air has some moisture in it and I’m not fighting off some sort of cold or flu I can wake up and feel like my throat is dry. Add that dry winter air and a cold into that mix and I need something that will keep the air in my room from getting so dry that I wake up feeling like my throat is lined with sand. Enter my humidifier. I love to run my humidifier on my nightstand during the cold winter months overnight and I notice my throat and mouth feel a lot less dry upon waking up in the morning. I always make sure to clean it as it says in the instructions, I don’t want to potentially be giving any bacteria a chance to grow.
#7: VITAMIN C
Good old vitamin C to help fight off a cold is a classic. And there are so many options for vitamin C, from orange juice, to clementines, or the flavored powders you can stir into drinks. The opportunities are truly endless! My general go-to is either an orange or a clementine every day while I don’t feel well or if I’m just not in the mood for citrus I will do some of the flavored powders that I can stir into one of my bottles of water. I don’t know if this technically makes my cold end sooner but it does lift my mood to think I’m doing something to help my body fight off whatever is causing the cold to happen in the first place.
So, those are some of my essentials for the cold and flu season as a professional voice user. Maybe one day I’ll make a part 2 to this blog post because there is certainly more where this came from. Please let me know if this is something you enjoy reading or if there is anything else that you would like me to write about in the future. I hope you’ll stick around for things to come as this website keeps on updating and growing. Thank you for reading! The world is better with you in it!
Sarah
