Returning to singing after an illness, How do I know that it is safe? Options

[JudithJ]

I had a nasty not-quite-flu virus after Christmas, which laid me out for about three or four weeks. At one point I was coughing so violently that I pulled a muscle and a couple of times I coughed up a little bit of blood. I now feel fine, except for my singing voice.

People tell me that my speech voice now sounds clear, however singing is still difficult. The Hungarian doctor has given me Amoxicillin, which doesn't seem to be making any difference, but I'm only half way through.

I find that I have lost the top of my range, the voice sounds gravelly, and it hurts if I sing for more than about 10 or 15 minutes. I also find that I sometimes start coughing again if I take a quick breath. My voice teacher has told me that the voice is a muscle, and it is bound to feel a little 'used' when I sing because I haven't used the muscle for six weeks. I really don't want to damage my voice by singing too soon, but I want to get back to homework.

I'm taking warm honey and lemon drinks, which really help.

Do any of you clever forumites have any recommendations regarding other things that I can do to help my voice, or how to tell when it is really safe to start singing again?

Thanks.

[Dugazon]

First of all: Singing should never hurt, whether the voice hasn't been used for a while or not. There are absolutely no exceptions to this rule. You might feel the voice is not that responsive after prolonged voice rest, but the effort in your vocal folds/larynx should not really feel high when you sing at any time, so I'm not quite sure if I agree with your teacher here - especially not after an airway infection. The advice would actually be to rest further if it doesn't clear, not to sort of forcefully work through it in hope it gets better.

If you still have an infection, that obviously needs to clear first. If it doesn't, your GP needs to find the reason, and, if need be, transfer you to a specialist.

Having said that: If you coughed excessively, it is very likely you still have slight vocal fold trauma/edema. This can really 'wreck' your voice for weeks and is, although a nuisance, sadly quite normal. I had a flu with secondary bronchial infection in 2010, and I couldn't sing/teach for 6 weeks, which was a royal pain. I owed it to my voice (and livelihood) though to shut up in that case (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

All you can do is play the waiting game, stay well hydrated and steam regularly (if there's still an acute infection, you might even want to be careful with the latter, and don't steam too hot!). Do gentle slides/glides to slowly get your voice used to singing again if it is safe (that's something only yor doc can decide - they should know you sing), but don't force anything, especially not to the point where it starts to hurt or tickle. If this is the case, stop. If things aren't back to normal within 4 to 6 weeks, I would investigate further.

Good luck (and patience)!

[JudithJ]

Thanks Dugazon. I shall rest some more.

The good news is that my piano playing is coming on by leaps and bounds with all the extra practice it gets!

[maggiemay]

I can confirm that the waiting game works. I had something similar last winter, and I could not sing for about 3 months. At worst, I had a range of about 5 notes, and there were times I wondered if I would ever sing again.

Unlike Dugazon, I'm not a voice expert: neither am I currently having lessons. My singing in mainly of the choral variety.

At one stage, when it was begining to feel very slightly better, though not back to normal, I mentioned to a choir friend that I was wondering if I should try to go back and sing a bit of gentle alto for a while, to get back into it. Our choirmaster sent a message back ' tell her not to even think of it'.

Once I felt I had something approaching my normal range, I returned to choir and took it fairly gently for the first couple of weeks. It's been fine since. Be patient and take care!

[JudithJ]

Well, I'm seven weeks into your three months MaggieMay. I hope that I don't need to wait as long as you did.

I went back to the doctor today, and he has sent me to a specialist.

Now I love the NHS, but this was seriously impressive. He spent a few minutes searching through his phone to find a specialist who speaks English. He phoned, and booked me an appointment for tomorrow! wow. And all free at the point of delivery.

[Cyrilla]

Ewww, Judith, I didn't realise you had this problem (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif) .

Also seriously impressed with the Hungarian system! Good luck tomorrow - let me know what the doc says.

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[Sunrise]

Well, I'm seven weeks into your three months MaggieMay. I hope that I don't need to wait as long as you did.

I went back to the doctor today, and he has sent me to a specialist.

Now I love the NHS, but this was seriously impressive. He spent a few minutes searching through his phone to find a specialist who speaks English. He phoned, and booked me an appointment for tomorrow! wow. And all free at the point of delivery.

Fingers crossed for you for today xx

[PianoNotes]

Glad to see you are getting it sorted out rapidly JudithJ. I am not a singer but my advice was going to be rest. My own experience was that I had coughed so much that after seeing a doctor I was told not to talk, so singing would definitely have been out.

[JudithJ]

Thanks everyone.

The specialist told me that I hadn't done any serious damage, which was a great relief. She told me to stop singing for the next week (I had been doing 10 or 15 minutes every now and then), and gave me medication for the symptoms.

She's sure that I'll be fine in two to three weeks. I feel much better after seeing her.

[Cyrilla]

That's very good news!

(IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif) (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[PianoNotes]

Excellent.

[katica]

What a relief. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

I wish you a happy return to singing in a couple of weeks...

[maggiemay]

Excellent news JudithJ. Very glad to know that it looks unlikely to last as long as mine did! I could accept not-singing for a bit, but there was the niggling thought (which I tried to ignore, but after two months it was difficult!) that it might not come back at all. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

It does sound as though you had a really good and encouraging response.

[Sunrise]

Thanks everyone.

The specialist told me that I hadn't done any serious damage, which was a great relief. She told me to stop singing for the next week (I had been doing 10 or 15 minutes every now and then), and gave me medication for the symptoms.

She's sure that I'll be fine in two to three weeks. I feel much better after seeing her.

Good news (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

[JudithJ]

I'm back singing again now. It still doesn't feel quite normal, but it is comfortable. I'm so delighted.