How to Recover Vocals After a Cough

For a vocalist, having a cough can be a major problem. Coughing, because of a cold or other medical condition, can cause hoarseness and damage to the vocal cords, which affects the quality and sound of the voice. There are things that can be done to lessen the effects of a cough on the voice and to ensure the fastest recovery of your vocals after having a cough.

Instructions

• 1

  Rest your vocal cords. When you have a cold or a condition causing acute or chronic coughing, the best way to recover your vocal cords and voice completely is to rest them. Talking, crying, shouting, whispering and singing make the problem worse and increase the amount of time for a full recovery.

• 2

  Drink plenty of fluids. Drinking fluids hydrates the entire body, including the vocal cords. This is especially important when trying to recover after a cough because coughing can dry out the vocal cords, making hoarseness worse. Also, avoid decongestants and smoking because these things tend to dry out the vocal cords.

• 3

  Humidify the air to help recover vocals after a cough. Humidifying the air keeps vocal cords moist, which helps you to recover your voice and reduces hoarseness. It also helps with congestion that is related to a cold or flu.

• 4

  Practice patience. It takes time to recover the vocals fully. It could take days after coughing for vocals to recover. If voice problems continue for more than a couple of weeks, treatment of other more serious conditions such as laryngitis, bronchitis and allergies, might be necessary.