Healthy Tour Tips
For my first time touring artists, life on the road is HARD! You’re constantly sleeping in a new room, inundated with air conditioning from a rickety fan, and having viral stew spewed into your face by adoring fans on the nightly. Your bodies got to be tough and your strategies around health need to be even tougher. Let’s discuss a few ways to maintain your health while you’re on the road.
Nettipot after your shows! Using distilled water and a saline solution packet, rinse out those olfactory sensors baby! Based on a 2009 study by Am Fam Physician, Saline was “found to be effective adjunctive care by the Cochrane Collaboration for symptoms associated with chronic rhinosinusitis.” In other words, those suffering from chronic allergies or post nasal drip can benefit from saline irrigation with a nettipot.
It can also be an effective tool to prevent rhinoviruses as it flushes allergens and specks of viral out. In one controlled study, preventive daily spray SNI reported significantly fewer episodes of URIs, shorter symptom duration and fewer days with nasal symptoms.
On tour, time is money. And you don’t want to lose out on a show or two because of a cold or, worse, covid. Preventative Nettipotting is your friend!
Place a fan by your merch table. When you’re chatting with fans after the show, any viral agents they may be harboring—sometimes knowingly by the way—are being launched directly into your schnoz and mouth. By placing a fan facing your fans, you can ensure a bit of protection as those viral loads are blown away from you.
Bring your own pillowcase. When you’re galavanting around the world on tour, you’ll find yourself in a new bed nearly every night. With a new bed comes a new pillowcase, some of them filled with dust mites or washed with detergents you may have a bad reaction to. Ensure your respiratory health by lugging your own pillowcase in your suitcase to place over new pillows!
Watch what you drink. Alcohol is a no go. Its a diuretic that will dry out your vocal cords and lower your inhibitions such that you’ll talk at a higher volume!
Watch your decibel count! Speak quietly when you can, though not at a whisper as pushing air over the vocal cords can be damaging. When you speak louder, you’re more likely to wear out your precious voice. Keep that girl healthy!
Hydrate often! The air in an air conditioned vehicle is extremely dry and changing time zones and microbiomes can have an adverse effect on your respiratory system. Make sure to fight dryness by hydrating often and hydrating well!
These are just some of the tips can ensure that your tour is carried out with health in mind. If you’re a singer, your instrument is in your body so ensuring that your health is optimal is also ensuring that your sound is optimal! Hope this helps!
