Should you sing when suffering from a cold? - BBC

I'm listening to the director of my London choir demonstrate a singing scale, starting with a low humming noise before opening his mouth fully to produce a resonant "aah" sound.

If you have a nasal cold which is affecting your sinuses or an upper throat infection, you are usually fine to keep singing, says Declan Costello, a consultant laryngologist who specialises in treating voice disorders at Wexham Park Hospital, in Slough in the UK.

Common viral infections that cause cold and flu can lead to inflammation of the voice box, which can require rest to avoid damaging them further (Credit: Alamy)

Among the warning signs indicating that you might have laryngitis are primarily vocal fatigue and if it takes a lot of effort to sing, or speak, says Deirde Michael, assistant professor in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, who helps return injured singers to the stage.

Unlike other muscles, the vocal folds don't have pain receptors, explains Stephanie Misono, head of laryngology and director of the voice clinic at the University of Minnesota medical school.

In some cases, singers who have overused their voice will develop a polyp, a fluid filled lesion, on their vocal fold that needs to be surgically removed, he adds.