Last month I wrote about some of the things you can do when you have a cold and you still have to sing. Television is bombarded with cold remedy commercials. Unfortunately, most of these products dry you up so much that your larynx is not lubricated enough for you to sing correctly.

As I said last month, when a singer gets a cold, he or she must actually heal their instrument. Outside of a doctor's prescription for penicillin or ineffectual over the counter drugs, what can you do?

Well, your first step should be to breathe steam to open your sinus cavities. If you add Eucalyptus leaves and apple cider vinegar to the water, the resulting steam can be very soothing to the throat. As I mentioned last month, if you have access to a steam room that's even better.

Hot fluids, vitamin C and sleep are good remedies. Even if you can't sleep, the rest you give your body will help it handle the crisis better. Steam vaporizers, which are available in most drug stores, are excellent to use while you sleep.

Make sure you consume lots of fluids. Since the presence of sore throats, coughs and colds are suggestive of congestion, the fluid diet is the best at this time. The best juices to drink are carrot, apples, lemon juice in spring water, beet, cucumber, celery and radish. The best teas are Red Singer, Throat Coat, Fennell and Rose Hip.

Probably the most awful tasting yet most effective combination of herbs in Bee Propolis (20 drops 5 times a day in water or juice followed by Golden Seal Root, Licorice Root and Myrrh Gum (15 drops of each in water) gargled 4 times a day. Let me warn you: this is really awful tasting. No matter how bad I tell you it tastes, it tastes worse. But I know from personal experience that it really works. It's worth it? Follow this with vitamins C, B, E, A and multi-vitamins.

Avoid overeating, especially diary products, processed foods and, above all, sugar. Sugar is a poison to the body even if you're healthy. Sugar causes more mucous than anything else I can think of. Did you ever notice how many colds people get after the holidays? It's my theory that this is, in many ways, directly proportionate to the overabundance of sugar that is consumed during the holidays. In the sixteen years that I've been teaching, I've never seen it fail!

Singing under these conditions is no fun. But when you must prepare to do a gig, you should know what to do. Always warm up your voice in the lower register of your vocal range. Stay low and prepare quietly. Never push your voice, let it come to you as you warm up. Only sing for a few minutes at a time until the motion of singing starts to lubricate the larynx. Let the muscles work gently.

If warming up like this does not stimulate lubrication, then you probably have laryngitis and you should not sing. If it is just a cold, however, pretty soon your muscles will warm themselves and be ready to do the best they can. Stretch your body to loosen up as much as possible and have patience.

It's comforting for most singers to know that no one else hears all the noises and gargles that you hear yourself. You may sound more resonant and people who know you well will be able to tell that you're not in top form, but most people won't notice anything as long as your cold isn't too severe. Try to ignore the sounds if you can and allow your voice the space to function on its own. Have the sound man turn up your mic and take it easy.

If at all possible, have your other hand members prepare songs that don't require you in the event that you really can't sing a full night. At least this way you won't lose the gig. The rest of the band must realize that a cold is a really incapacitating thing for a singer and they should try to be supportive by being prepared for this.

Limit your sound check and try not to sing too much before you go on stage. Get your voice to a point where it can function and then stop. Save yourself for the stage. Don't be a martyr. If you're really that sick, stay home. Your can severely damage your voice if you sing when you have laryngitis. But if it is a cold and you follow these remedies, you have a good chance of having a very successful performance in spite of it all!