“Do not smear your voice with alcohol during carnival and do not force it!”, warns speech therapist Cindy Maas from Eindhoven. Many throats will have a hard time during this festive period. Especially now that after two years of coronavirus, people want to seize this moment to seriously go wild again.
“Carnival really puts a strain on your voice,” Cindy told the radio program WAKKER! on Omroep Brabant. “You will suffer from that for a few days: a hoarse voice, a hoarse voice. That is normal.”
To relieve your throat a bit, Cindy recommends lip-synching now and then instead of singing along with the various carnival classics. “In addition, you can now and then drink a glass of water to restore your fluid balance a bit. Some people say: just take a drink to lubricate everything. But that is not always the best thing for your voice.”
A cold beer then? “I think that’s a good question, because beer is mainly made of water. But beer contains alcohol, and alcohol removes moisture from your body. That increases the risk of heartburn, which can irritate your voice. Alcohol also makes you more loose, which means you start talking louder, yelling and singing a lot. Those are side effects and they are especially intense for your voice.”
If you completely lose your voice during this carnival, according to Cindy, you should not force it. “This can sometimes take a few days. But you should not panic and try to get something out of it anyway. That is very bad for your voice! Don’t strain, so! If it lasts longer than two weeks, it is It’s good to get medical help.”