Best Things to cure sore throat/swollen glands?? Singers HELP!!

[Amneris]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:32pm

I am at Cap this summer for 6 more weeks and EVERYONE is sick.. Like really sick. Sore throats,swollen glands.. I am so over-tired and overwhelmed, I have horrible swollen glands,a sore throat and stuffy nose. I am on anti biotics but, they do not seem to be helping.. drinking tea doesn't do much either.. I get naucious from tea. What other things can I do to help myself recover for Monday when I have a whole week ahead of me to sing in every class and belt a whole lot?? thanks in advance.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:35pm

oh i have two friends there now with you... i hope they're doing ok... but for real, the cure is cold water. as much as you can. you should be peeing white. never be without a water bottle.

[shlamdiddly]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:37pm

get your tonsils taken out.




ok. thats a little extreme.

Definitely keep drinking water. Clear pee is what you want.

[neomystyk29]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:40pm

I personally choose water at room temperature. Cold water can possibly shock your folds. 2 Liters a day, the way to know your hydrated is yes, that you pee is clear lol.

Anywayy....lots of low low volume humming just forever with your attention on keeping loose will do wonders. Just do this for long periods of time. The worse your symptoms that longer you should do it.

Lots of juice, vitamin C and B are depleted first when fighting a cold.

Inhaling steam will help loosen congestion in the lungs as well as soothe the vocal folds.

Gargling with warm salt water will also help draw phlegm away from your larynx.

Lastly SLEEP SLEEP SLEEP

[joeybiltmore1]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:41pm

Water water water.

You should be peeing every 10 minutes. Annoying, yes, but it'll most likely do the trick. And I like warm water as opposed to cold - I find it more soothing to the throat.

Good luck!

[Rathnait62]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:43pm

Everything neomystyk said.

[SimpleJoysHaveSimpleVoice]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:43pm

Prayer

[singingwendy]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:45pm

Get lots of rest, lots of water, and lots of vocal rest....which means no singing along to the Rent soundtrack until 2 AM! LOL

[Eliza0114]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:48pm

drink hot tea with lemon, honey, and VINEGAR...Balsamic vinegar, actually. it will come to the aid of your voice like none other. it is disgusting and you will want to VOMIT, but it will work. if you have to sing and your voice is gone, down a regular coke about 30 minutes to an hour before hand. the acid and bad things in the coke with go eat the gunk away from your vocal cords and you'll temporarily have your voice back.

other than that, the only long-term remedy is water, water, water.

[HeyJayNYC]

Posted: 7/8/05 at 11:51pm

Zinc lozenges, orange juice, GARLIC pills (pref odorless) and all the other stuff. Zinc and Garlic really help.

[Sumofallthings]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 12:42am

Next time just spit.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 12:49am

i couldn't disagree more with eliza. all the forms she talked about, tea, honey, vinegar, coke... these are temporary solutions that give you a good two hours of hope, but in that two hours you are damaging your voice even more. and you will pay for it a lot more. your throat and glands will be worse off than before and it will take weeks for them to heal. water is the answer. steam will help. really hot showers... if you can, just sit in the bathroom with a scalding hot shower running. if you can get it in your room, a humidifier.

[Eliza0114]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 12:53am

apdarcey, not to start a debate or anything, but I don't disagree with you. they are temporary solutions, and solutions that should only be utilized under the tightest of circumstances. however, they DO work. they may not be that great for you, but if you're doing a show, and you have to be on in an hour and have absolutely no voice, you have to do ~something~.

but yes, water IS the only longterm remedy. and the safest.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 12:58am

yeah, i know that is what you were saying! i wasn't trying to fight... just knowing that she's going through cap's summer program she's probably not going to want to utilize a temp solution... but i know you know what you're talking about!

[Eliza0114]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:07am

okay... :) glad we got that settled. let's be pals! :)

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:09am

aren't we already? i'll race you to the water fountain!!!

[Eliza0114]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:11am

damn. I suck at running. I can kick your bum at Yoga, though. :)

[Jimmyojimmy]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:12am

Zinc lozenges are very good, and I would drink some chamomile tea w/o honey, soothing on your throat and will help you sleep.
Updated On: 7/9/05 at 01:12 AM

[dietcherryemma]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:18am

Get one big bottle of mildly cold (not icy) water

add as many lemons as you can fit

squeeze some honey into it if you please

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:21am

people! honey is not good for your voice. stop recommending it. it will make you hurt your voice more. it is a complete fallacy.

[Jimmyojimmy]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:25am

DONT EAT LEMONS!!! lemons and citrus are bad for your voice plus all that sugar would make it irritated even more. also, refrain from sucking on peppermints. go to the health food store if you must and try some of those lozenges.

[apdarcey]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:30am

i agree with jimmy, you've got to stay as neutral as possible. get things that are bland. don't drink soda or juice or alcohol (obviously)... just water... and not sparkling, just straight up agua.

[jczelyph]

Posted: 7/9/05 at 1:59am

I study medicine, so perhaps am able to shed a little light onto the subject for you, as there do seem to be some odd suggestions flying around.

Your infection is either viral or bacterial. There is no difference in management of the illness whether it is caused by a virus or bacteria. There is no indication to use any investigation to identify a causative organism (most investigations are not very sensitive and there is no use in knowing anyway). Antibiotics are not routinely indicated and evidence suggest that their use confers no faster relief of symptoms (and may even prolong the illness).

Acetominophen (e.g. Tylenol) is useful and will help to relieve pain. A standard dose should prove adequate and is safe.

Drinking sensible amounts of water is a probably a good idea but isn't shown to reduce the symptoms in any way. Don't overdo the water as you can effectively explode your kidneys or make your brain swell up. Both of those are bad situations. 1.5 litres a day should suffice, unless you are sweating a lot.

Avoiding excessive use of the voice will ease symptoms, as will avoiding smoky atmospheres and controlling any seasonal allergic rhinitis symptoms. Don't sing too much, and don't attempt any crazy belting.

You may find a warm lemon and honey infusion soothing (and both have antiseptic activity) but there is little good quality evidence to suggest their use in a medical context.

You might be interested to read http://www.sign.ac.uk/guidelines/fulltext/34/section5.html which is a site that looks at all the research done on a topic and then draws conclusions based on the available quality literature.

I'm curious as to why you have been prescribed antibiotics though... I'm not saying it's wrong, just unusual.

Updated On: 7/9/05 at 01:59 AM

Posted: 7/10/05 at 6:29pm

slippery elm if you have to sing...my friends claim it tastes like dog food, but i find it rather good...and it works, for me at least.

[teh_pretty]

Posted: 7/10/05 at 8:00pm

Cold FX if you're feeling cold symptoms. It's a miracle worker -- it knocks the cold out of you in three days.

I second steam. Take long hot showers and put your neck under the nozzle. It feels unbelievably good on a sore throat!