H ere is the second part of Vocal Health. If you missed the first part get it here

Colds, Sore Throats, and Laryngitis

Often when these viral bugs get you down, your vocal folds become swollen. You may notice this will make your voice deeper, huskier, or hoarse.

It is important to treat your voice with some extra care when these illnesses occur. Below I’ve listed a few:

1. Shush! Sometimes the novelty of having a “new voice” due to changes in the vocal folds makes it tempting to chat. But it is important to remember that during your illness, your vocal tissues are especially vulnerable to damage. Limit talking to bare essentials. Use paper and pencil or e-mail to get your messages across. When you do need to talk, do so softly and avoid shouting or screaming.
2. Avoid throat clearing — this action is damaging to the delicate vocal fold tissues. Try sipping water instead to clear mucus.
3. While you’re in the “vocal caution zone,” take more extreme measures to increase hydration.

• Gargle with warm salt water. [Some vocologists advise adding a pinch of baking soda to the solution.]
• Use salt water to gently clean the nasal passages, if necessary. Can you say “nasal irrigation,” “nasal lavage” or “neti pot.” Good word searches to find out more on Google.
• Gently inhale steam. Boil plain water in a pot, remove from the stove, and put your face in the rising steam. [Take care not to scald your skin by leaning too close to the hot water.] Tent a towel over your head to keep the steam from dissipating.

Vocal Fatigue

1. There are two distinct types of vocal fatigue: muscle and tissue fatigue. Muscular fatigue happens when the muscles of the vocal system are over-used, just as muscles in the other parts of the body ache when they are over-used with strenuous exercise. Tissue fatigue, however, is caused by excessive destruction of the cells composing the vocal fold tissues.
2. Muscular fatigue is often described as a tight or sharp pain in a diffuse area of the throat. Tissue fatigue, on the other hand, is likely to be a raw or sore feeling in a more localized area — right behind the Adam’s Apple.
3. Persons with muscular fatigue may benefit from working with a vocologist. A vocologist can demonstrate special exercises that will strengthen the muscles used for talking. Other common sense approaches are reducing muscle tension during speaking or improving breath support are helpful. Periods of talking, followed by periods of vocal rest — even as short as 10 minutes — will alleviate the daily toll on vocal musculature.
4. Those with tissue fatigue should improving vocal health (increasing the body’s hydration level, using good breath support and removing vocal irritants).
5. Have you read or heard that those with vocal fatigue should not whisper and wondered why this was so? Whispering is soft talking without the vibration of the vocal folds. Thus, if a person has muscular vocal fatigue, whispering would not allow the muscles to rest and would be of no benefit.