Conference turris::womannotes-v2

    the best remedy I know of is:
    
    Stop talking for a day or two, absolutely, completely, not even
    whisper.
    
                                                   
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    See a doctor. This is can be serious and one would be foolish
    to let it go untreated if it's getting worse and has already
    been around more then a day.
    
    			Alfred

    buy a DECtalk, and use that.
    
    Dave

1. See a doctor

2. wear scarf and hat and gloves

3. rest, sleep, become prone

4. do not talk

5. soothing liquids. no coffee. no regular tea (if it steeps for something like
> 5 minutes he'll get tannic acid, which is hell on the throat). herbal tea
with honey. low acid juices.

6. lots of love.

I had lots of throat problems myself.
	Mez

    See a doctor...
    
    Use a humidifier at home, especially at night.  
    
    As soon as the temperature and humidity drop in the fall, my throat
    and sinuses dry out.  My voice becomes hoarse and (according to my 
    doctor) I become more susceptible to sinus infections.

    There also seems to be a bug going around, in LKG at least, who's
    symptoms include a low-grade fever and hoarseness.  Last week there
    were at least three member of my project whispering...it made for
    a very calm weekly meeting. ;-)

    In regard to diet, avoid caffeine but do drink warm (not
    hot) drinks.  Avoid iced drinks - they tend to make the
    throat musceles tense.  Also avoid fatty (greasy) foods
    and milk products.  These will coat the throat (making it
    feel better temporarily) but ultimately you have to talk
    through all that junk.
    
    I'd advise voice rest as often as possible.  But first
    see a doctor!
    
    Nanci

    A former co-worker of mine had recurring trouble of this sort
    a while back, with no other symptoms.  Turned out he had
    cysts on his vocal cords, which were easily and (nearly)
    painlessly removed via laser surgery.

    -- Linda

    and from the other perspective, if he must talk, pitch his voice
    VERY, VERY *VERY* low.  I lose my voice very often (how *do* you
    spell larengitios???!!) sometimes as often as 3-4 times in one month.
    to talk, I must concentrate very hard on how I pitch my voice, 
    but it will usually come out.
    
    of course, the doctor does tell me to give it a rest...guess i just
    like talking too much.
    
    drinking lots of water also helps me

    I second seeing the doctor.  Why suffer?  Find out what's wrong,
    treat it, and take it easy for a few days.
    

    Yet another vote for seeing a doctor.  And add sugar to the list
    of things to avoid.  It never did good things to my voice.  Warm
    broths and tea are good.

    I also suggest seeing a Doctor. My older brother ( 45 ) kept losing
    his voice, and after many, many, many test, it was found that he's
    alergic to any and all Preservatives. Within 3 - 4 hours of eating
    anything with a preservative in it, his voice turns from a rasp
    to nothing. It takes 12 - 24 hours for his voice to return. 
    
    	Red

    
    Lloyd Bentsen is taking honey and tea for his voice.
    
    *Larengitos* sounds like a new finger food from Taco Bell...

    The "fave" at the Barking Spider (recording) Studio, is lemon
    herb tea and honey (and a trip to the doc. if the condition 
    persists more than a day or so).
    
    Steve

    When I was in chorus we used to use plain lemon or lime juice.
    Before a performance everybody would be running around with
    those little green or yellow plastic squeeze-lemons squishing
    stuff down their throats.
    
    Some people did put honey in it, but if the mixture is so thick
    it won't squeeze, you've got too much.
    
    Old-timers often use a mixture of honey, lemon, and barley
    water.  Yummy if you've got the patience to boil barley in
    water for a couple of hours.
    
    --bonnie

    All of the remedies so far are short term.
    
    	1 - see a doctor, make sure it's not something really bad.
    	2 - variety of oldtime remedies that really do work.
    
    But don't stop there.  Take a voice class.
    
    It won't help this time, but it will help next time, because there
    might not be a next time.  They'll teach you what you are doing that
    causes harm, how to recognize it, and how to avoid it.  I think there
    are classes at places like Cambridge Adult Ed and Boston Adult Ed that
    are specific to people who have to talk alot, rather than sing.
    
    								-mr. bill

    I guess I'll chime in, and say "See a doc."
    
    One more thing:  My dad once lost his voice for a period of about
    6-8 MONTHS.  This was real hell on his job, since he was a fairly
    high-level manager for an HVAC (heating, ventilation and air
    conditioning) company in the Washington D.C. area, and approximately
    85 % of his business life was on the phone.
    
    Well, they never did find out what caused it, after innumerable
    tests, probes, peeks, and scans.  Eventually, he developed this
    sort of hoarse whisper; that along with a voice amplifier for the
    telephone (yes, they do have such things) and he got along quite
    well, although some words were a bit funny.
    
    His voice came back, in degrees, and now he's back to par.  
    
    Bill
    
    P.S.  The voice amplifer was available from AT&T; installation charge,
    and some small monthly rental charge (like a buck or something)
    after that.  This was also nice for me, since sometimes I would
    have to call home from a non-amplified (I use an amplifier on the
    *listening* end) handset, and Mom would get on that one, and amplify
    it from her end.  Nifty.  :^)