Singing through allergies

Yo, it’s allergy season, i.e., the total pits of singing with mucus, drainage, brain fog, and the like. It’s no bueno. I wish I had a perfect solution for you…a when-you-feel-your-allergies-like-this-then-do-this kind of journey to feeling 100% despite the allergies. Alas, I do not. 

…but I’ve worked with hundreds of singers, most of whom deal with allergies on an ongoing basis. Below is a list of changes you can make to improve your ability to sing through allergies that I’ve seen work for my students.

👉Talk with doctor about medication

Whether you’re seeking advice from a Western-trained doc or you’re seeing a woo woo medical professional, or maybe you’ve even found someone who utilizes the practice of both, it’s possible your allergies won’t go away completely with medication. So have a lot of grace for yourself. Allergies change over time. You change over time. Be flexible.

👉 Steam

Most allergy medications are drying, which means your mucus will dry up. It doesn’t necessarily just go away….so you still have to stay hydrated since, when on an allergy med, your body will dry up. So steam. 

Steaming helps to move gunk around and to humidify your sinus passages, throat, and lungs. I’ve seen my students reverse the adverse effects of allergies by steaming twice a day, once in the morning and again at night before bed.

👉Rest

About once or twice an allergy season, I wake up feeling heavy, groggy, and exhausted from just trying to breathe through an allergy attack. When your allergies are really bad, try to rest a little extra. Even if this doesn’t mitigate your symptoms entirely, it will help your mental fortitude in surviving them.

👉 Stay hydrated

You must drink water. The cells that make up your lovely body need H2O, so don’t skip it during allergy season. I realize your stomach may be upset because of the post nasal drip, or perhaps you’re too groggy from a drowsy allergy med, but you must hydrate. The hydration will help keep the cells that make up the tissue that is your voice continue to function as well as possible.

👉 Accept your next best

When you have to sing on a day or night you’re not feeling your best, you’re not going to feel afterward like you sounded like a million dollars. To handle that reality, accept your next best. 

If you’re a perfectionist, lower your expectations by two levels. Then you might be satisfied with your singing on that day.

Allergies affect your voice, that’s just the way it is. And usually, allergies affect your hearing because the sinus drainage stops everything up…so you literally can’t hear accurately. So you have to accept (and feel grateful for) what you can do with your voice on any allergy-interrupted day.