Lately the weather has been extremely changeable, the temperature varies from day to day and, as a result, many people are getting sick. This type of weather is very confusing, you never know how to dress for the day and, in addition, the flu is going around. Now, we all suffer from colds at one time or another, but when a singer gets a cold we're talking about a serious problem.

You voice, when you are a singer, is your life. It is your identity (or most of it), your baby, your enemy sometimes and, as a professional singer, your meal ticket. When you are a guitar player, or a keyboard player or a drummer and you get a cold, you feel just as miserable as anyone else. But your guitar, keyboard or drum set is just fine. Your instrument patiently waits for you to feel good enough to play and then everything proceeds as normal.

When you are a singer, however, your instrument gets sick right along with you. You voice is part of your body and when you get a cold or the flu, everything is affected. Singing with an illness is a miserable affair and in this article I'm going to give you a few pointers on how to make your life easier while you're going through it.

There is a lot of controversy about the common cold and what to do for it. I have sung with a cold or the flu myself and the remedies I will discuss are ones that have worked for me and my students. Most doctors today will prescribe drugs for any cold symptoms. Anyone who knows me knows how I feel about taking drugs when you are sick. If you've been ill for a couple of days and you have to perfom (especially those of you who must work every night) then I suggest you do whatever will get you well the quickest. However, drugs are not always the quickest way to alleviate the situation. There are other ways.

When you have an over-accumulation of mucus in your body and your body has built up too many toxins, it sets itself into housecleaning to eliminate these wastes. Many head colds are simply that -cleaning and elimination. I am opposed to taking drugs to cure a cold or any mild form of congestion. I have found that drugs simply prolong the healing process in most cases. Of course, if you are seriously ill, go and see a doctor and do what you both feel is best. Either way, you should do as much as you can for youself and these home rememdies will not interfere with antibiotics; they can only help.

At the slightest sign of a cold, you should start with these simple rememdies. Breathing steam is the first thing to do. If you can get to a steam room, fine. If not, just boil some water on the stove in an open pot and, as soon as the water is boiling, shut off the flame. Lean your face over the pot and drape a towel over your head to form a kind of tent, then simply breathe in the steam through your open mouth and your nose. This will open up the sinus passages and the moist heat will restore the natural healthy environment of your nose, mouth and throat. Do this often at the first sign of a cold. This procedure can sometimes help to eliminate enough mucus that you can void the cold all together.

Most people have been told to avoid water like the plague when they catch a cold, but I highly recommend a hot bath on the first night you feel the cold coming on. First you should dry-brush your skin. A dry skin brush has bristles made of vegetable proteins and can be purchased at most health food stores. Brushing your skin when it is dry scales off dry skin particles while simultaneously stimulating and opening the pores. It increases circulation on the outer skin surface as well. Your skin is an organ, too, and dry brushing aids the body in eliminating toxins through the open pores.

After your skin has been dry-brushed, get into a hot, soapy tub and wash away the dead skin. Afterward, cover up quickly and get warm. Don't go outside until the next day.

You can also use citrus fruit to wash with when you're sick. This allows vitamin C to enter the body directly through the pores. Now I'm sure you find that a bit strange, but even when you are not sick it is a very good skin treatment. As an experiment, get a few oranges, cut them open and use them to scrub your skin. You'll find that lots of dead skin will peel away as you rub. Simply rinse off and let the skin dry -no soap. I don't recommend this procedure all the time, but as a once-in-a-while treatment, especially when you feel that you're getting sick, it is most refreshing. (It makes you smell good, too!)

Besides cleansing your body you should be drinking lots of fluids and eating proper food. Drink lots of water and natural fruit and vegetable juices. Fresh carrot juice mixed with beet joice and celery juice is a great aid to eliminating toxins from the lungs and repiratory system. Fresh apple juice is excellent and fresh grape juice is pure magic.

You should be eating fresh raw foods as well. Apples are especially good for the throat, as are grapes and melons. Eating fruit, which is easy to digest, allows the body to give all its energies to eliminating toxins and getting you well again. And the classic bowl of chicken soup is good for you, too! It contains a form of of natural penecillin and is very helpful when you're not feeling food.

If you've been coughing a lot, eating several oranges a short while before you go to bed can alleviate a persistant cough. If your throat feels raw, make some herbal tea, add honey and lemon, and then melt a commercial Eucalyptus cough drop in the tea before you drink it. The taste isn't that great, but it's very soothing to the throat.

Last, but not least, exercise. your body has to be healthy if your voice is to be healthy. Do stretching exercises, especially for your abdomen and your rib cage to help your breathing.

I'm going to continue this cold care discussion next month because there's still a lot more you can do to help you through the misery and discomfort of a cold. See you then!