Silenced.

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

My friend Albert Cadabra wrote me this. Any ideas for his voice?

I do show at Ripley's on 42nd St and basically doing the outside talking and I was screaming through shows and now I have no voice. I have not had my normal voice in about 4 weeks now. Do you know of any performs that this has happened to? I went to the Doc and the put a camera down my throat and said I had no polyps or nodes or ulcers on my "vocal folds" and to just wait it out and talk as little as possible. But 4 WEEKS so far? And as you know when you have a steady gig you try and keep it so I am still performing and squeaking through shows. Any hits besides:
Tea with honey and lemon
warm pineapple juice
or a mix or garlic, lemon, ginger and apple cider vinegar

[scot]

sleep more than usual. force yourself to sleep. walk for an hour or get some kind of exercise every single day. Eat healthy food. drink lots of water. get enough vitamin e for skin growth.

[roughtoughcreampuf]

When he does get better, perhaps you should suggest he start screaming/yelling using his diaphragm. He would benefit from that a lot!

[Michael]

Go get some slippery elm caps at your local health food store or vitamin shop. Break the capsule open in your mouth and let it dissolve in your throat. Do a couple of caps 4-6 times a day. Doesn't taste bad, doesn't taste great. Works every time for me.

Go to the electronics store and buy a wireless mic.

http://www.1001herbs.com/slipperyelm/

[harmonicakev]

ouch!

I agree with Michael; as soon as you have a crowd big enough to be worthwhile, you need to shout to be heard..microphones are a great investment....
..once you have damaged your voice in this way, you are more prone in the future to repeat episodes.
If you haven't all ready had some voice training, that would also help some; even with a microphone you can still strain your voice.
as for right now, work on figuring out ways to save your voice: signs, sign language, get the audience to do some of the yelling and screaming for you....and try to be disciplined enough to totally rest your voice when you are off stage....I started generating promo flyers years ago just to answer FAQ's without talking!
Your voice will recover, especially if you are younger, in your 20's; the older you get, the more difficult it becomes to recover from such things.
and water is the best thing to drink while performing; stay away from anything that will dry out your throat, like coffee or alcohol...and off course don't try to perform on a full stomach; you need all the breath support you can get.
Good Luck!
Ciao -Kevin M.

[Peter Voice]

A tea made with sage can do wonders. Take 2-4 per day and call me in a week.

[Mr.Taxi Trix]

Thanks!

I've sent these all on, except for the amplification stuff, he knows all that.

[scot]

also, in new zealand, I got this stuff difflam

http://www.paylesschemists.com.au/images/products/56411.gif

it was miraculous. Street performing every day and I took it for a day between shows and was mostly healed.

heal the love

[jeep caillouet]

slippery elm

Slippery elm is the thing. But you must know how to use it.First don't buy the lozenges they are not strong enough and they are full of sugar for a good reason. Buy the capsules they are about $10.00 for a hundred. It helps to wet your mouth really good.. break open one of the capsules dump the powder on your tung,be aware that this is some really nasty stuff. Make a paste of it with your tung and let it drizzle down on your throat Your voice will be 100% in 10 seconds. Do this just before your show. If your voice is really bad use 2. You can buy this at any
GNC store or vitamin store.
Scot do you know where to get difflam in the USA and about what does it cost?

[Frisbee]

I used this stuff in the U.K. and it was pretty good. it looks like you can order it online.

http://www.vocalzone.com/

[gav]

Originally posted by Peter Voice
A tea made with sage can do wonders. Take 2-4 per day and call me in a week.

don't drink it though, it gives you high blood pressure
just gargle it on a regular basis

you can also get sprays and lozenges that have sage as the main ingredient.
I had a similar problem before one really important gig and sage saved me .

[Pele]

I agree with the sage as well, the fresher the better.

I do actually drink it with lavender (an anti-inflamatory) and honey (because it tastes bitter).

I use it at night after the Ren Faires or festie closes and in the morning before I start at it again.

In the middle of the day I've also been known to down straight honey, which soothes and helps.

I also use it when I get scratchy from fire eating, mental floss or sword swallowing.