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Hmmm well that came as a surprise.
After our horrid performance…. Excuse me… my horrid performance at Seattle’s Dream Café during the Headbangers Ball which sadly is still going to be considered our debut, I didn’t expect to be back onstage again.
And as quick as that.
Losing my voice days before our performance and having too much pride not to cancel made me feel so helpless that time. And super embarrassed.
But hey… I think it’s only because Murky wanted Induce to play that we came along as a package deal.
Oh well I’ll take it.
So… we’ll be playing at the ROcktober Fest at Mic 1 on October 3, 2026.
And now I’ll have to focus on getting my voice back up to speed.
Here’s what I’m doing that I hope will help you too
I learned this way back in the day. More than a decade ago and I was a bit hardheaded then so I don’t remember everything but what I remember has helped me throughout the years.
1 – Complete Vocal Rest (for at least 2 days)
If there’s one lesson I learned best during that time, it was this: complete silence.
And at that time it was extremely hard for me to keep quiet because I just wanted to sing or talk to my bandmates. Those were exciting times and being quiet was absolute torture for me.
These days… being older and hopefully wiser…. I’ve learned the value of keeping quiet to preserve my voice.
Vocal rest is the first and most important step and that means no singing, no talking even at a normal voice.
No whispering because whispering actually strains the vocal cords more than quiet speaking because it forces air across partially open folds.
If you must communicate, write notes or use text.
Think of your vocal cords as swollen tissue that needs zero friction to heal.
Two full days of complete silence should be enough, I guess.
2 – Hydrate or Drink Warm Water Constantly — Warm, Not Cold
Vocal cords need to be lubricated to function without irritation.
So, aim for at least 8 glasses of warm or room-temperature water per day during recovery — ideally more. The more water you drink the better. …although there is also water intoxication… so just drink in moderation.
Anyway… kidding aside, I was one of those people who scoffed at the idea that cold water is bad for singers. And I did not have the discipline before to stay away from cold drinks.
In fact to this day I enjoy a cold drink more often than I care to admit. But ever since September leading up to the Headbangers Ball, I’ve been staying away from cold drinks because cold water constricts the blood vessels around the throat and can tighten muscles that need to relax.
Warm water on the other hand keeps everything loose.
So, avoid ice water entirely until you’re fully recovered.
And make it a habit to carry a water bottle everywhere and sip consistently rather than drinking large amounts infrequently. That includes when you’re up onstage performing.
3 – Avoid Cold Air and Air-Conditioned Rooms
Cold, dry air is one of the most damaging environments for an already inflamed throat.
Air conditioning in particular strips moisture from the air and from the mucosal lining of your vocal tract.
If you must be in an air-conditioned space, wear a scarf or neck wrap to keep the throat warm and add a portable humidifier nearby.
I’ve been sleeping with a scarf loosely wrapped around my neck in our bedroom. Come to think of it… I’ve been wearing a scarf or any piece of fabric wrapped around my neck for a few weeks now… looks like that’s my new fashion style…
The most important thing is to keep the throat protected from temperature drops throughout the recovery period.
4 – Wear a Scarf and Keep the Throat Warm
Lately I’ve been feeling a lot like Avril Lavigne with a scarf around my neck all the time.
It doesn’t have to be a scarf though.
Any fabric will do but a simple cotton or wool scarf wrapped around the throat during the day is one of the most underrated tools in a vocalist’s recovery kit.
It keeps the muscles and glands around the larynx at a stable temperature, reduces the impact of cold drafts and fans, and prevents sudden temperature shifts that cause throat muscles to tighten protectively.
Filipino vocalists often dismiss this because of the heat, but even a thin scarf in an air-conditioned environment should be enough to protect your throat.
Just keep wearing it until you’re fully recovered.
Who knows? You, like me, might eventually come to like it.
5 – Steam Therapy
Fill a bowl with hot water, drape a towel over your head, and breathe in the steam for 10 minutes — morning and evening.
Steam directly hydrates the mucosal lining of the vocal tract in a way that drinking water alone cannot, because water lubricates from below while steam reaches the cords from above.
Optional: Add a few drops of eucalyptus oil. This helps open airways and reduce inflammation.
6 – High Doses of Vitamin C During Recovery
Vitamin C supports immune function and helps reduce the duration of the illness affecting your throat.
During the acute recovery phase, 500mg to 1000mg of Vitamin C daily — from supplements or from fruit like calamansi, dalandan, and guava — gives your immune system what it needs to clear the infection faster.
Or… Berocca…
7 – Vitamin B Complex and Zinc
Vitamin B complex supports nerve function — relevant because the vocal cords are controlled by delicate nerve pathways — and helps the body manage fatigue and stress during illness.
Zinc is a well-documented immune booster that reduces the duration of upper respiratory infections when taken early.
8 – Honey, Ginger, and Lemon — The Classic for a Reason
- Raw honey coats the throat lining and has antimicrobial properties.
- Ginger reduces inflammation.
- Lemon provides Vitamin C and helps break up mucus.
Drink this two to three times daily during recovery.
9 – Throat Lozenges and Mucolytic Agents
Throat lozenges containing menthol, benzocaine, or honey-based formulations provide temporary relief from throat irritation and help maintain moisture in the mucosal lining. Brands like Strepsils, Cough Drop, and Difflam are widely available in the Philippines.
If mucus is a significant issue — thick or stubborn phlegm coating the throat — a mucolytic like carbocisteine (Solmux is the most common local brand) helps thin and clear it.
Thick mucus sitting on the cords causes the same friction damage as dry cords.
Clear it.
Check the label for dosage and consult a pharmacist if unsure.
10 – Prioritize 8 or More Hours of Sleep Every Night
Sleep is when the body does the most active tissue repair.
The vocal cords do their best healing during the hours your body is fully at rest.
Eight hours is the minimum.
Nine or ten during the acute phase is preferred.
11 – Vocal Exercise – Humming
Humming is the safest first step back to using your voice musically as it keeps the cords close together without forcing full phonation — it gently vibrates the muscles back into use without the pressure of full singing.
5 minutes 2x a day.
Stop if there is discomfort.
12 – Vocal Exercise – Lip Trills and Tongue Rolls
Lip trills — the sound you make blowing air through closed lips to make them vibrate — are a standard vocal warm-up used by professional singers and voice therapists for a reason.
Tongue rolls (the rolled R sound) do the same thing.
Do these for 10 minutes before any singing attempt. Start on a comfortable mid-range note and slide up and down your range slowly.
If your voice cracks or feels strained during trills, your cords aren’t ready yet.
13 – Vocal Exercise – Scales at 50% Volume — Build Gradually
Sing simple five-note scales at about half your normal volume.
Start from the middle of your range and then sing up and back down slowly on a neutral vowel sound like “ah” or “oh.”
Stop before you reach the edges of your range for the first few days.
This is not to rediscover your full range immediately.
It’s to re-establish the muscle memory. Extend the range gradually over several days, not in a single session.
14 – Breathing from the Diaphragm Exercises
A weak or recovering voice benefits enormously from properly supported breath. Diaphragmatic breathing — breathing from the belly rather than the chest — is the foundation of healthy vocal production and takes pressure off the throat.
I remember doing this exercise and laughing before because I didn’t take it that seriously. Good thing the teacher insisted I do it. So here’s how it goes:
- Lie on your back
- Place one hand on your chest
- Place one hand on your belly
- Breathe so only the belly hand rises
Practice this for five minutes daily during the rebuilding phase.
Singing with proper diaphragm support requires less effort from the vocal cords themselves, which means less strain during the recovery window when the cords are still not at full strength.
15 – Avoid Dairy, Alcohol, Caffeine, and Spicy Food
- Dairy increases mucus production in many people, coating the cords and creating friction.
- Alcohol dehydrates the entire body including the vocal tract.
- Caffeine is a diuretic that works against all the hydration you’re trying to maintain.
- Spicy food irritates the mucosal lining of the throat and can trigger acid reflux — and acid reflux reaching the throat is one of the most damaging things a vocalist can experience.
All four of these are worth eliminating entirely during the recovery period and minimizing during the rebuilding phase.
This includes avoiding large meals before singing, which also triggers reflux.
16 – Warm Up Before Every Single Performance
The vocal cords are muscle and connective tissue.
You would not sprint without warming up your legs.
A vocalist who walks onstage cold — without any warm-up — is asking for the same kind of strain injury that a runner who skips stretching gets. Ten to fifteen minutes of humming, lip trills, and gentle scales before every rehearsal and performance is not optional. It is maintenance. Building this habit is the single most effective thing a vocalist can do to prevent future illness-level vocal fatigue.
If you see me inside the car before going up onstage, that’s basically what I’m doing. A car can effectively muffle the sounds you make while warming up and saves other people from hearing your vocal exercises
17 – Know When to Cancel and When to Push Through
A gig missed because of vocal illness is recoverable.
A vocal cord nodule or hemorrhage from pushing through serious illness is not — at least not quickly, and sometimes not fully.
As a vocalist, you’ll eventually learn to read the difference between a tired voice and an injured or sick voice.
Tightness, pain when swallowing, loss of range in the mid-voice, and a consistently rough or weak tone all signal that the voice is not ready.
Canceling is not weakness.
Canceling is how you protect the instrument you need for every performance after this one.
I have to remind myself that…
I’ve seen what happens when a vocalist abuses their voice. I’ve seen what happens when one pushes through illness, skips the warm-up, stands in the cold air after a set with a sweaty neck, drinks San Miguel instead of water backstage.
I’ve done most of those things too.
And the result?
The voice breaks.
It breaks at the worst possible time.
And then the recovery period gets longer because it happened onstage.
Take care of the instrument.
It’s the only one you have that you absolutely cannot replace.
Oks I hope that helps you!
