Hi,

Can anyone give me any tips for how to continue singing (and sounding ok rather than awful) through really rather bad pain? I've developed a problem in my shoulder/neck/top of my back which is causing me quite significant levels of pain - well put it this way, enough to wake me several times a night, and it's at a constant high level during the day.

It's different to my auto immune disorder, because I know that when I'm troubled by that it will generally improve if I rest and give it time. This pain feels very similar to when I had frozen shoulder (in fact I fear it's reoccuring), and over the past couple of months has just got gradually worse and worse.

I'm not a woos when it comes to pain, people have remarked on what a high pain threshold I have. And I know it's nothing to be scared of, I haven't broken anything and I don't think I'm about to have a heart attack or anything like that. However it bothers me that I need to find a way to continue singing through it without it affecting my voice. Particularly if it is the frozen shoulder happening all over again because that took two years to rectify itself..... and I'm not prepared to put my vocal journey on hold for that long!

I tried a couple of Voltarol I found in the medicine cabinet the other day when it was getting so bad and I knew I had clients to see, and that took the edge off it. I don't want to get into the habit of taking painkillers though, and not these ones as they are way past their use by date (I think I was prescribed them for the first shoulder bout). I'm also worried about the effects on my voice if I'm taking painkillers and will it affect my vocal production?

I'm concerned right now because I have concert coming up next weekend, and I want to give it my best shot and hopefully not disappoint people with rubbish singing.

I can't be the only person on the Forums in this sort of situation, so I just wondered how other people manage to over-ride/ignore/keep a nice vocal tone/etc.

You probably all think I'm just a wimp now, but if anyone can give me some advice I'd be really grateful.

Many thanks

Ambs x

Oh dear, poor you

Lots of different bits to your query, so I'll answer a few of them in no particular order....

First piece of advice, absolutely important, is go and see your doctor as soon as possible if not sooner. At the very least the doc can prescribe you some stronger painkillers and hopefully figure out what is happening. And quite possibly a short intense course of painkillers may be what's needed.

Second, if you are in pain, I'm afraid it will affect your voice. Largely because pain makes one tense, and tension is detrimental to a good sound. So this brings me back to point one - go to the medic and get some painkillers that work.

Third, it is possible to do a concert doped up on painkillers. I've tried it, and to be honest I don't recommend it. The Belle Epoque gig I did in Swanage was fuelled by a mixture of Ibuprofen, Paracetemol, Diazepam and Codeine. I can't actually remember much of the first half of the recital, and of the second half, my strongest memories are holding on to a music stand to stay upright and fighting to stay awake during Andante's solos......The good news is no-one asked for their money back so my singing can't have been too bad.

If you must do the concert, don't try to sing from memory. It's one extra piece of pressure you can do without in the circumstances.

I hope it either gets sorted or your doctor can help you sort it out quickly.


Very gentle (hugs)

Thanks for your really quick reply KJ, I really appreciate it.


That's a good point. It's not my default position to think about going to the GP, I tend to just soldier on on my own through things, but I suppose I ought to go. At least to get some painkillers that aren't past their sell by date! One of the GPs was very good the last time round in that he ended up injecting steroids into the shoulder, but I could hardly feel it. He must be a good injectionist! Let's hope it doesn't come to that this time round though.








Sorry to hear that




Aw, come on, she's not that bad a musician!!!




Thanks

Ambs x

No she's very good indeed. Which just underlines how stoned I must have been to be in danger of dropping off....

Quite!

Amber, me dear! How awful!

This kind of pain is quite worrying! But, as it's not on your vocal chords, or in your larynx, you can sing through it without danger.

If you want to be certain of what you're going, I'll happily meet up with you on Skype for a vocal anatomy lesson to help you get through it (a good singer listens to his / her muscles and not to his / her voice is the best bit of advice I've ever been given) - as you're a fellow trad song lover, It's be lovely to sort this out together.

Anyhoo, let me know if you feel up to it and we can get together.

Allan x

Amber, me dear! How awful!

This kind of pain is quite worrying! But, as it's not on your vocal chords, or in your larynx, you can sing through it without danger.

If you want to be certain of what you're going, I'll happily meet up with you on Skype for a vocal anatomy lesson to help you get through it (a good singer listens to his / her muscles and not to his / her voice is the best bit of advice I've ever been given) - as you're a fellow trad song lover, It's be lovely to sort this out together.

Anyhoo, let me know if you feel up to it and we can get together.

Allan x

Amber, me dear! How awful!

This kind of pain is quite worrying! But, as it's not on your vocal chords, or in your larynx, you can sing through it without danger.

If you want to be certain of what you're going, I'll happily meet up with you on Skype for a vocal anatomy lesson to help you get through it (a good singer listens to his / her muscles and not to his / her voice is the best bit of advice I've ever been given) - as you're a fellow trad song lover, It's be lovely to sort this out together.

Anyhoo, let me know if you feel up to it and we can get together.

Allan x

Amber, me dear! How awful!

This kind of pain is quite worrying! But, as it's not on your vocal chords, or in your larynx, you can sing through it without danger.

If you want to be certain of what you're going, I'll happily meet up with you on Skype for a vocal anatomy lesson to help you get through it (a good singer listens to his / her muscles and not to his / her voice is the best bit of advice I've ever been given) - as you're a fellow trad song lover, It's be lovely to sort this out together.

Anyhoo, let me know if you feel up to it and we can get together.

Allan x

Amber, me dear! How awful!

This kind of pain is quite worrying! But, as it's not on your vocal chords, or in your larynx, you can sing through it without danger.

If you want to be certain of what you're going, I'll happily meet up with you on Skype for a vocal anatomy lesson to help you get through it (a good singer listens to his / her muscles and not to his / her voice is the best bit of advice I've ever been given) - as you're a fellow trad song lover, It's be lovely to sort this out together.

Anyhoo, let me know if you feel up to it and we can get together.

Allan x

Many thanks for your reply Allan, in fact many thanks for all five of them!

I would be very interested to learn more about vocal anatomy, not just in respect of this pain problem but generally anyway as I think it would be helpful on my singing journey. So thank you for your kind offer to meet up on Skype and give me a lesson. I'm not sure where and what Skype is - is it anywhere near Bute or Arran?!?

The advice you quote sounds good - but I'm not sure I'd know how to do it. I'd be very interested to learn more.

Many thanks



Ambs x

Wow! My computer went crazy there, then!

Skype is a piece of software that allows you to make free video phone calls via internet - I use it to teach more than half of my students (some of them are in the US, some in Latin America, some just too far away in France) - it's great.

You can download it free of charge here www.skype.com

Once you've got it up and running, let me know.

Allan

Like Katyjay, I've done concerts on cocktails of painkillers, but it isn't fun.

Like both Allan and KJ have said it is important to find the source of the pain.

If you do have to sing with pain meds in your system keep it to them bare minimum.


Just paracetamol is ideal. If your brain has enough of a mental tolerance to it, paracetamol and your doctor's prescribed step-up medication. However no more.

I normally function on 2 Paracetamol and 2 Tramadol, so perfoming with them in my system is not a crazy idea on a bad pain idea, but if you are not used to that loading of pain meds. then you would be away with the fairies.

Still on Concert days of I could manage without the Tramadol or on 1 Tramadol instead of two I would.

It is a balancing act. What would distract you most: the pain, or the painkillers?

It is a tough call but hard as it is Amber it comes down to that.

I don't have an auto-imunne problem, but Fibro-myalgia sucks. Still I'm not going to let it get in the way of singing, and my other music-making activities.

Please please don't take out of date medicines. They are either not strong enough, OR might make you very ill. They do deteriorate.
Don't assume it is all to do with the SLE. See your GP.
Katyjay would have been sleepy from the Diazepam. The Ibuprofen and paracetamol won't make you sleepy, but Ibu can upset some folks stomachs.
Bev x

Hi Ambs,
Hope you are feeling better now. As you know I have been trying to play piano and practice my singing through a lot of pain and discomfort lately. I am now on Tramadol and Ibuprofen. They both help, though I still can't sit at the piano for more than ten minutes and my singing practice is limited to some basic warm up exercises. Ratty showed me how to raise and lower my arms so that my ribs were nice and high when I was in Anglesey. I am managing that one better as time has gone on. Both my voice and piano have suffered through lack of practice, but I will give it my best shot.

I'm looking forward to hearing you on Saturday...and you're certainly not a wimp!

*Agree with Bev re out of date meds!!*

The day after my last reply I had a fall and cracked my coccyx. I spent the next two days drugged on oromorph and diazepam in bed only stepping down the painkillers enough to get through Handel's Messiah on October 5th.

I took things easily through the week with the addition of a TENS machine. Things took a turn for the worse this weekend thanks to tripping over children's bikes and unreasonable requests by family. I am now on Fentanyl and Diazepam.

I still can sing well enough to teach, but do take things easy Amber. Bad enough DC suffering since her accident, and going through this myself without you overdoing it too.

Jo