You love singing, right? You want to be a star or at least perform at your best? I am constantly amazed at how badly many singers treat their voices. If you are serious about being a great singer, you should be concerned with your vocal health 7 days a week / 24 hours a day.

Here are some rules to sing by (pun intended):

Sleep:Make sure you get your 8 hours of sleep a day. However, you should rise 2 to 3 hours before vocalizing.

Eat & Drink Right: Eat before warming up the voice. Adequate nutrients/lubrication is vital for good vocal production. Caffeine, alcohol, drugs and artificial sweeteners all are dehydrators and should be avoided whenever possible. If you must ingest a dehydrator, drink extra water. Chocolate, spicy and fatty foods and carbonated drinks also can irritate the voice. Eat a balanced diet and keep blood sugar levels steady.

Warm up: Always warm up the voice before performing and vocalize daily.

Support: Support the speaking voice the same as the singing voice. Avoid screaming and trying to talk over loud music and other background noise.

Don’t Smoke: Cigarettes, cigars, pipes and marijuana are terrible for your voice. Smoking hurts vocal fold tissues and limits a person's ability to breathe deeply to provide good support for speaking and singing.

Avoid Stress & Tension: Emotional and physical stress both can hurt your vocal quality. Exercise regularly. (However, extreme power weight lifting can damage vocal folds.) Jogging is great! If you are often tense in your shoulders and throat, make a point to stretch shoulder and neck muscles throughout the day.

Hydrate: Drink lots of water! Vocal folds work best when their surfaces are kept moist and the mucus in the vocal system is thin. Keep an eye on your urine. If it’s clear you are hydrating well. If it’s yellow, you need to drink more water. Juice and herbal teas are also good. However, drinks with caffeine and alcohol will DEHYDRATE you.

Environment: Do your best to avoid breathing smoggy, polluted or smoky air. If your working/living environment is dry, invest in a humidifier. 40-50% humidity is good.

Stay Healthy: Wash your hands, drink water and avoid touching your eyes. The last thing a singer needs is a cold! If you do get sick, avoid talking whenever possible, gargle with warm salt water and gently inhale steam.

Careful with the Meds: Try not to use local anesthetics to cover up pain. Anesthetics can mask signs of injury and cause you to further damage your voice. Further, many over-the-counter cold and flu medications contain ingredients that dehydrate mucus membranes. Also, some pain relievers can contain caffeine (bad). Singers should avoid aspirin products at all times which can thin the blood and predispose one to sustain a vocal fold hemorrhage. Tylenol is OK. Ladies - avoid progesterone dominant birth control pills. These can damage your larynx and decrease the range in your upper register.

Whenever a doctor is prescribing a treatment, remind him or her that you are a singer. It is possible there might be a more voice-friendly alternative medicine.

Note: This article is presented for information purposes only. The material is in no way intended to replace professional medical care or attention by a qualified practitioner. The materials in this web site cannot and should not be used as a basis for diagnosis or choice of treatment.