My Facebook post the other day was simply, “stupid stupid summer cold!”.
Yes, I was exposed to ailing family members who came to stay with us for a week. I’ve fancied myself at remaining relatively unscathed by the rhinovirus for a good long time.
Then after everybody went home, I woke up one morning early last week with that uncomfortable scratchy throat. That is always an unwelcome precursor to the stupid stupid cold. The following days brought forth the usual symptoms, and I’m thankful for the use of all the tissues from Costco I’ve stocked up on. Still, it was disappointing, despite the usual precautionary hand-washing. Oh well.
Guess what? I’ve managed to work through it all, including two ISDN sessions and several chapters in my latest audiobook assignment. And aside from the lower register “morning voice”, I sounded like my healthy self. Of course there were bouts of sneezing, and coughing, but by week’s end the cold was on its way outta here.
So how? Ok, I’ll share, and I must say my methods may not be for everybody.
1- Zicam. If you begin to use early, at onset of symptoms, can help shorten the duration and lessen the intensity of the cold.
2-Neti pot
3- throat coat tea by Traditional Medicinal’ s
4- lots and lots of water, fruit veggies, and other moisture-laden healthy foods. Add some lemon or lime juice to your water. Lime is especially beneficial as it has natural antihistamine properties.
5- Ricola lemon sugar free throat lozenges
6- rest! That means plenty of sleep and vocal rest.
7- gargle with Alkalol as needed to clear that phlegm hanging in the back of the throat.
8-Hot salsa, and or spicy foods. Ginger is very good!
9- try this homeopathic anti cough mixture I picked up from another voice talent: (if you can handle the heat)
Note: 2 teaspoons =1 dose
1/4 teaspoon cayenne
1/4 teaspoon powdered ginger
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 tablespoon honey
2 tablespoons water
10- the very last thing I will do, but truly wish to avoid completely unless I’m desperately plugged up, is use nasal spray. It works quickly, but your nasal passages can become reliant on nasal sprays if overly used.
Hey, thanks for the advice. I would just like to add that tip number 9 isn’t homeopathic – if it was I wouldn’t bother trying it. As it stands I am going to try it ‘cos it sounds awesome!