well after 3 weeks of some BAD freaking dry coughing followed by finally a few days of getting the crap outta my lungs

im left with nearly total vocal loss .. the 7 scales .. i got the first 2 if that

im barely at a loud whisper right now

any ideas how to soothe my damaged throat

i went through this whole bought (im sure was brought on evironmetally from work) without succumbing to the antibiotics or other stuff

im just really worried ive mighta really wracked a real damage on my throat

besides keeping shut up like my hunny suggests

i dont do honey anymore

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

sorry you feel bad.

i know its not raw but for years i have found relief from making my own vegetable broth and sipping it really hot. i know there are many people who will disagree with this but it really brings relief to my aching throat.

i dont think you have done permanent damage. your throat is probably just a little raw from all that coughing and hacking. it just needs to heal. hope you feel better.

hmm well ive been trying just hot water its soothing .. i think i woke up with another octave this morning lol

heh i guess just rest

on a positive note my abs feel really tight lol

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

Rest is good
I screwed up my voice so, so bad a couple years ago, I couldn't even talk...
My opinion: You probably don't have any permanent damage, just slowly rehab your voice, GRADUALLY - it probably wouldn't hurt to talk to an ENT to double check for damage and maybe even a vocal therapist if you can find one.

General advice for singing practice/rehab: try to make each note as effortless as possible... Sing one note, try to relax every external facial muscle, and as much of your throat as possible. Concentrate on how it FEELS - how it sounds when you do this doesn't matter all that much. Then try different notes and do the same. I highly, highly recommend Mark Baxter's website, Voicelesson.com
He is a vocal therapist for rockers like Johnny Reznik of the Goo Goo Dolls, STEVEN TYLER of Aerosmith, etc etc... believe it or not he is the reason I found raw foods (indirectly).

Take care!

Jodi,

Like you said, rest is good. The ultimate rest is a water fast, where you spend the entire water fast in bed doing absolutely nothing. In this state, your voice will heal as fast as humanly possible.

i think thats a good plan i have the next 4 days off work so i can easily plan a short fast thank you

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

let us know how it goes, sweet jodi.

so far so good ..i was up this morning for a wee bit and have slept most of the day .. maybe 4 x 80oz of water

..now im goin back for a nap i just had a warm bath then a blast of cool shower then a warm bath

throat doesnt feel quite as scratchy/itchy as it was yesterday

already missing food lol .. i love my food

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

lol that 80oz should read 8oz lol

hahaha

sigh ..im sucha dork

*looks at typo fingers with dismay*

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

throat is feeling much better !!

i did a verbal fast since about this time yesterday as well lol i decided to spend 24 hours making no vocal noise at all (translaation i shut up lol)

as i tend to verbal FEAST too much ..it gave my vocals a bit of a break

boy was it hard though !! lol

still on the water fast and feel good ..will break in the morning with some fruit juices

ive slept/rested about 50 hours since friday after work lol

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

hey, great! glad you are feeling better. you took a vow of silence! lol

hehe yea i guess thats what it was ! lol

well it all shur helped

i woke up this morning with a song in my head and went upstairs to see what tempting things i had to break my fast

i wonder if thats where the word breakfast came from ... the first meal after not eating for a while ..hehe hmmm

anyhoo !

sung to the tune of flyin purple people eater !!

Well I woke up this morning and what do i see
A big bunch of oranges just a starin at me
I commenced to shakin' and I said oo-wee
It sure looked like fine dinin to me' !

=D

...Jodi, the banana eating buddhist

I read somewhere that wispering puts more stress on your vocal cords than just speaking at a normal tone. I went through Bronchitis, and strep throat a lot growing up. The only thing that helped was not talking!