How to Recover Your Voice After Losing It

Whether it's from talking too much, singing excessively, screaming at a concert, or dealing with an illness, putting too much strain on your vocal cords can cause temporary voice loss. Thankfully, you can restore your voice with some home remedies. To regain your voice, soothe your throat with water, tea, and other remedies. Rest your voice as much as possible by minimizing speaking, breathing through your nose, and avoiding irritants. If your voice doesn't return after a few days of self-care, it's best to consult a doctor for professional advice and treatment.

Drink plenty of water. The best thing you can do for your sore vocal cords is to drink water. There's nothing better for you on Earth than water. Keep the water at room temperature to avoid shocking your throat with cold or hot water.

• Don't drink water as if it were an obligation. Your body is very good at signaling when you're thirsty, so don't ignore it. Drink regularly but sensibly. This not only helps you recover your voice, but it's also good for your body, digestion, skin, weight, energy levels, and more.

Gargle with saltwater. Four times a day, heat water in the microwave (until warm, not hot) and dissolve a spoonful of salt in the cup of water. Gargle the saltwater completely. This helps clear the mucus in your throat.

• Don't worry about the taste since you won't swallow the saltwater. In fact, if your throat hurts, you'll find that this method soothes the pain.
• Another option is gargling with apple cider vinegar, though the taste is much worse than saltwater.

Consider drinking tea with lemon and honey. There are two schools of thought here: Some people believe that tea (especially chamomile tea with lemon and honey) is excellent for soothing the vocal cords. This drink has been used for decades for this purpose. However, acids are not ideal for the epithelium (cells that create the vocal folds), and both tea and lemon contain acid. What's your decision?

• However, there's no issue with honey. Another common remedy (though less popular) is to suck on a spoonful of honey. It's a great excuse to use honey! Next time, maybe a spoonful of Nutella jam.

Steam your throat for five minutes, twice a day. Steam can increase humidity in your throat. Just like you often see divas wearing scarves when they're sick, warmth is great for the throat.

• Boiling water is a simple way to create steam. Cover your head with a towel over a pot of hot water, and you'll have perfect steam. Add a few drops of essential oils if you'd like. You could also stand near a humidifier. Alternatively, switch the shower to hot water, seal the drain, turn off the fan, and take deep breaths. (Remember to use water responsibly, especially during a drought.)

Use lozenges. Many singers use lozenges made from slippery elm (it sounds funny if you've never heard of it), but this hasn't been scientifically verified. Lozenges made from slippery elm have received positive feedback, but there is no scientific evidence supporting their effectiveness. It could be the placebo effect.

• Even though there's no scientific proof, at least these lozenges are harmless. In general, lozenges provide temporary pain relief.

Give your hoarse voice some rest. The best thing you can do is not speak for a few days. Resting your throat is essential for the epithelium to heal. In short, silence is golden.

• If you need to communicate with someone, write notes instead of whispering. Whispering forces your vocal cords to work as hard as shouting. Writing notes can also be fun if you draw pictures or make symbols for the recipient to decode your message!
• If your work requires you to speak loudly, use devices to amplify your voice.
• Chewing gum or sucking on lozenges will leave you with no choice but to stay silent. This also helps increase saliva production.

Breathe through your nose. Hopefully, you understand that when you're asked to be silent, it's about breathing through your nose. What other way is there to breathe? Mouth breathing can dry out your mouth, so hopefully your nose isn't blocked, and you can still breathe somehow!

Avoid using aspirin in all cases. If one of the reasons you've lost your voice is from shouting too loudly, you may have ruptured a capillary. Aspirin thins the blood and can lead to excessive bleeding, which impairs the healing process.

• There are other ways to alleviate pain if your throat is scratched. We'll discuss this later.

Don't smoke. A major issue, right? Unless you're living under a rock, smoking is a known cause of dry throat, as well as many other negative health effects.

• Smoking can alter your voice. In the end, your lungs use smoke to produce sound. What else did you expect? Quit smoking, and you'll notice immediate improvements.

Avoid acidic foods. Foods like tomatoes, chocolate, and citrus fruits are rich in acid; the acid gradually erodes tissue at the vocal fold. To help your sore throat, it's best to avoid these foods as much as possible.

• Spicy foods are also terrible for your voice. Any food that causes irritation should be avoided. (That's why water is so good for you—it's natural.)

Consult a doctor if your voice is lost for 2 or 3 days. If you were overly excited at the concert last night, it’s natural for your voice to be gone the next day. However, if you rarely experience voice loss without any other symptoms, it might signal a bigger issue. Seek a doctor's advice for proper guidance.

Address other issues first. If you're battling a severe cold, focusing on your voice loss may not be effective. Handle your immune system first, and your voice will return to normal. If you have other symptoms, take care of them first. This approach might resolve the problem.

Take it slow and be cautious. Even if your voice improves, maintain good habits for your vocal health. Similar to finishing an antibiotic course; although you may feel better after a few days, rest is still necessary. Keep resting until you are fully recovered.

• If you try to sing while losing your voice, avoid dairy products (along with acidic foods). Protecting your throat won't help much, even if it seems soothing in the moment. You want to clear the mucus from your throat, not add to it.

• Handle boiling water with utmost care as it can cause severe burns.