Question: Is it bad for me to sing when I am sick?
I have a very bad sore throat these days. . . But I can’t stop singing!! What can I do?! Is it harmful?
Answer: A “bad sore throat” indicates infection and swelling. The throat often functions as the body’s “barometer” telling you that your body is fighting infection.
I empathize with your desire to keep singing. However, while you have a sore throat it is advisable to stop singing. Infection and soreness in the throat is about an inch from the vocal cords. When you continue to sing – exercising the cords, blood flows to the surface of the cords – just like it does to your face when you exercise vigorously (you get flushed in the face). It is then that the cords are most susceptible to becoming infected with the same germ that is causing soreness in your throat. So, singing while having a sore throat is tantamount to inviting the infection to your voice. When this happens you end up with “laryngitis” (temporary vocal cord paralysis) – at which time you lose part or all of your voice – until you allow your body to deal with the infection and recover fully. Continuing to try to sing under those conditions can lead to lasting damage.
Also, it is good to know that the throat has relatively few pain nerve endings – unlike our hands and fingers. (This is the reason why some folk seem to be able to drink piping hot tea without realizing that it is burning their throat.) So, when we feel pain in our throat – we need to pay attention.
My advice is that you take a break from singing – talking and especially whispering while you have a bad sore throat. Recovery depends on how severe the infection is and how strong your immune system is. When you recover, your voice will be the stronger for having left it alone during the days of throat infection.
Now, to help the process of recovery, drink lots of clear fluids (water, apple juice, and cran-anything juices), take lots of vitamin C every day, Echinacea – and if you can, garlic too. These things will help flush the toxins from your system as well as aid your own immune system to beat the bug. Besides this, get more than your usual hours of night’s sleep.
If you want to be able to sing do all you can to get well.
Best wishes.
PS. A word of caution: If you are in the habit of sucking on lozenges, using throat spray or taking analgesics that simply numb the throat area temporarily – and at the same time continue to use your voice while you’re sick, you do not help the process of recovery. Analgesics dry out the helpful glands that produce the necessary mucous lubrication for your vocal cords. And, you only mask the pain (and injury) temporarily and do nothing for your body’s ability to fight the infection. Avoid using your voice and work on a full recovery.
Tags: analgesics, medications, singing when sick, sore throat, swollen vocal cords, vocal cords