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- Scholarly Journal
Herbal Medications for Singers
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Sue Saltmarsh
Karen Wicklund DEGREE: D.M.
IMPORTANT: The information contained in this article is intended for educational purposes only. It is not provided in order to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any disease, illness, or injured condition of the body, and the authors, publisher, printer(s), and distributor(s) accept no responsibility for such use. Those individuals suffering from any disease, illness, or injury should consult their physician.
sue saltmarsh karen wicklund, d.m.Treating singers with herbal remedies is much like treating secretaries or construction workers or anyone else, but with one very important exception--though the physiology may be the same, singers use their bodies as their "instruments." Anything that impacts the singer's body also impacts the quantity and quality of the "finished product" they produce with the physical tools they have. It is therefore essential for singers to protect themselves from infections, viruses, environmental irritants, injury, and the effects of overuse (perhaps even abuse), in ways that do not interfere with the mechanisms they use to produce their music. Herbal remedies can often offer gentler, more easily assimilated, more balanced ways of keeping the singer healthy without the risk of harmful or debilitating side effects:
This is one of the values of using herbs instead of chemical medicines. While mild herbs don't compete with the strong effects of drugs, their food-like nature and complex biochemical processes are more able to affect the entire body and mind. Likewise, they don't throw off any one aspect of the body and cause a reaction or another disease. Therefore, when you find the right herb, you can use less of it and affect more areas of the body than with chemical drugs ... Holistic herbal therapy is appropriate to use in almost all conditions, either by itself or as an adjunct to other methods. Because mild herbs...