HOARSNESS AND THE IMMUNE SYSTEM – THINGS YOU MUST KNOW!

Natural ways of helping your immune system cure your hoarseness, and other wintertime tips:

Most people do not know that a strong immune system and herbal medicine can shorten the healing of hoarseness. This is especially important in wintertime, so any lifestyle change favorable to your immune system is recommended.

While some people hardly ever get hoarse, others get hoarse after the slightest cold, staying hoarse for up to several months, or even longer. In such a case, many incorrectly blame their hoarseness on improper vocal techniques or too acid diet, and so on.

True, a proper vocal technique can help the healing, naturally, and excessive acidity is harmful to your vocal cords. But, once your cords are damaged, they become much more sensitive, due to acid reflux, accumulated mucous or the sensation of uncomfortably excessive vocal strain. In such a case, it is difficult to practice a textbook vocal technique.

So all you can do is just support your natural healing process, in order to quicken it.

The duration of healing is different in every person, depending on the effectiveness of one’s immune system, the treatment one receives, and one’s vocal practice.

The immune system is usually perceived as a system detecting and fighting invaders to the body, such as microbes, unicellular and multicellular organisms, viruses, fungi, cancer cells etc. If it fails, the invaders, after entering the voice box, might settle in the larynx and the vocal tract, or, in the worst case, in the vocal cords’ nerves. This might result in vocal muscles dysfunction and loss of vocal control.

Yet immune system has another critical role in healing vocal disorders, which we sometimes fail to see-restoring damages tissues. In case of hoarseness resulting from ailments and vocal cords damage, the immune system must remove the damaged parts of the tissue, and then replace them with healthy parts. Since these two processes are essential for restoring your normal voice, the process of healing may seem frustratingly long.

Therefore, strengthening your immune system is crucial for your vocal hygiene.

If you suffer vocal disorders, we recommend using natural medicine which quickens the natural healing process and strengthens your immune system, combined with a lifestyle beneficial for your health and vocal hygiene, in order to keep your voice intact and not an existing vocal weakness worse.

Here are some traditional medicine tips for strengthening your immune system, treating wintertime disorders, and improving vocal quality:

• Eat oregano, the best natural antibiotics. Chop it and add to salads, sauces and hot dishes.
• Drink and gargle half a lemon every morning (you can add hot water to it, and honey, for sweetness), to relax and flex your vocal cords.
• Regularly perform physical exercises, including abdominal muscles and diaphragm exercise, to improve your vocal support and intensity, intensify circulation and strengthen the immune system.
• Rest and release: in cold weather, the muscles tend to contract. The so called erector spinae muscles, located in the side of the spine, contract and stiffen, which results in insufficient oxygen supply, which means more strained voice production, and more often vocal and general weakness and fatigue.
• In cold weather, wear warm clothes, and protect yourself from wind as best as possible. The combination of cold and windy weather causes the common cold.
• Breathe through your nose, keeping your lips closed. Mouth breathing dehydrates your vocal cords, and increases the risk of foreign objects invading your vocal tract.
• Avoid both active and passive smoking. Smoking burns down your cilia, or windpipe hairs, which help clear the windpipe off accumulated mucus, and causes edema and respiratory system infections. This makes it difficult to use your vocal system optimally.
• At the earliest stage of your cold, before bedtime, soak a clean handkerchief or a headscarf with one fourth of a cupful of cognac, and wrap it around your neck for the night.

Wintertime TMRG solutions:

• In cold weather, when the body is susceptible to disease, you can contract disease when you are in a confined, crowded space. Since microbes love humidity, they are attached to nasal mucous membranes, and from there enter and settle in the respiratory system. In such weather, regularly use TMRG Saline and Oil Spray No.5. You can even spray it on your clothes and around your head.
• If you already caught a viral or bacterial disease, apply one drop of TMRG Synergy Oil No.6 on the center of your tongue, every 15 minutes, up to 20 times a day or until you feel better. We recommend using it right after the first symptom. In such a case, the oil will help shake the bacteria or other invaders off your respiratory system.
• If you suffer from vocal cords aliments or hoarseness, which is common among people who work with their voice, we recommend treating it by TMRG Powerful Vocal Recovery Kit (PVR) No.8. The combination of several medicinal herbs and ethereal oils is a more effective medicine than a single herb, since the various components work in synergy with each other and enhance their potency.

The combination of natural products, traditional medicine and mild exercises (see some recommendations in our brochures, or closely consult a vocal therapist or pedagogue), can end most of vocal disorders, as well as strengthen your immune system and support natural healing processes.

Have a healthy winter,

Talya

TMRG voice specialist