I was going to say stop singing but hey lol just kidding

I had this problem before but ok it might not have been the same situation your in. I did a little sing star on the playstation with a few friends. I thought i was real good and started to bang out the vocals as loud as i could. Then boom something in my throat went and i could hardly speek.

For days my throat was killing me. I rested for a long time with the singing and didnt speak much as i couldn't. After a few cough sweets and sore throat medicin (sp) and given 2 or 3 days it was back to normal. But your case might be different. Me with my sing star aint what you call propper singing lol.

Ok mate, there are a few things that you can do. As a few people have said, gargling salt water will do the trick, but if you do have real trouble, then it's best to go on "voice rest". Simply if you can, don't talk at all for a whole day, and then they will have recovered well enough to sing again.

Also, DONT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES USE THROAT LOSENGERS!!! lol. That looks pretty aggressive, but it really is important. It soothes the pain, and conceals the damage that you are doing to your vocal chords. You'd be damaging them without realising it, so please for your own sake, stear clear.

But, prvention is far better than cure, and if you warm up properly then you can avoid these kind of problems. Try the following warm -ups before you sing, and all will be gravey:

i) Make a low, deep noise like a motorbike at the back of your throat for 10mins first thing in the morning (this will "shake" your vocal chords and get rid of all the gunk that may have formed overnight or whatever)
ii) Make a high pitched crying noise like a sad dog (I know this sounds silly) and experiment with the entirity of your range
iii) Then pretend that you've got something stuck to the roof of your mouth, and try to scrape it off with your tongue 10 times (this wont protect your voice, but will give you better diction)

A home remedy that I know of for this issue is to drink warm chamomile tea with lots of honey. I know this because I was in a band and the vocalist forced his voice a lot, and thats what he used to take to fix this issue. Sometimes when there was no tea available he would just eat a couple of spoonfulls of honey.

Well for me, since do a lot of growling/screaming for metal (and that is very straining), I find that a nice cool glass of water helps out a lot. Before, during and after singing, it works well. Also, use your diaphragm far more than your throat...

Many good advices in this thread! I could be a good complement to a singers ABC!
I am singing in a band and because of the music we play it will be much scream and it is unavoidable to not strain your voice, and occasionally sometimes so much that it hurts and you can´t sing one more tone. Rest is primary, warmup sing exercise before practice or preformance and my golden tip (dont laugh) warm Honey before preformance!

This post has been edited by Hagebyhemdata: May 1 2008, 11:20 PM