Daughter is just beginning to explore the wonderful world of singing, voice lessons and musical theatre. She's prepping for an audition, and complains of "stuff" in her head. (Congestion, some sinus junk, and a little wimpiness to her voice. Ah -- allergy season....) Doc already has her on Singular and Zyrtec and she can't take any of the prescription nose sprays. (They give her horrible nosebleeds....) So...best ways to "de-junk" both while rehearsing AND (the most important to her) for auditions??

Staying hydrated is most important. Also, the #1 thing the singers in my family do before singing or auditioning is staying away from dairy products and chocolate. Both will coat their throats. Now, we know of one B-way lead singer who literally has a chocolate shake and sometimes even a Dove Bar before he performs, but even he says that is rare and that most singers are not able to do that.

This is something I've struggled with all my life... I get bad hay fever, and I have a problem with the "junk" anyway. My best advice is more or less what you're already doing... Zyrtec-D is the allergy medicine that works best for me (and now it's non-prescription!) Also, like Mominbiz said, hydration is the best thing you can do to loosen all the junk up (drinking a lot of water helps to thin it so it's not as thick on your cords). Also, she can use a steam inhaler regularly and/or Mucinex to help loosen the congestion in her head.

A last ditch resort is something I've had to do only once. I was in a show that was running during September (the peak of my personal allergy season, of course) and I had a huge, belty song, and my range was taken down by two or three tones because of my constant congestion in both my head and chest. The music director and I tried and tried and tried to find ways to get me up to this one note that would normally have been in my range if it wasn't for all the junkies, but there was just no way to get around it. If I used another note, the song would have suffered, and I would've hurt myself trying to screech it out in my allergy-ridden condition. So I had to go drastic and go on cortisone (steroids) for the course of the show. If you're DESPERATE (there are risks to taking cortisone, so that's why I say desperate), then you can get either injected or oral cortisone. It definitely clears you right up, but it's not a solution for anything less than an emergency situation, and definitely not for anything long-term.

Hope that helps, and break a leg with auditions!

Another idea is the natural saline nasal spray which is very safe and helps clear the nasal passages and keep them moist.

You can also try a Neti Pot which is usually availble at CVS, Wal-Mart and Target. They look like a cute little tea pot that you fill with saline or salt water to flush the sinuses. I hear they work extremely well. They were demonstrated on Oprah and then again on her show when Dr. Oz spoke of them. Apparently, they sell out fast, especially during allergy season. I keep meaning to get one, myself. There is probably a video demonstration on YouTube or somewhere.

Also, some actors are allergic to theatre dust, my DD being one of those actors. She would be fine until tech week in the theatre, and then get extremely congested and be running off stage to be hacking junk between scenes. After we figured out her allery to working in theatres, she now uses an over-the-counter spray like Flonase, but milder than the perscription, consistently for a month before she opens in a show. She also takes one plain Sudafed decongestant a couple of hours before singing, which helps keep her sinuses open without drying her out like antihistamines can. So far, this has worked well for her with no side effects.

Ah hah! I found several Neti Pot demonstrations on YouTube! (Also sometimes mispelled as Nedi Pot) Enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=Neti+Pot+de...on&search_type=&aq=f

LOVE Neti Pots... I swear by mine. Especially if you use it consistently, it can be a huge help. Great thoughts as always, MIB!