One of the things singers frequently overlook, and often mask the symptoms with lozenges, is polyps on the vocal folds, which can lead to throat cancer. Many, many top singers/entertainers have died from throat cancer, and I saw lots of those cases when I worked at The Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore. One of my best friends, who unfortunately, passed away a few weeks ago, was among the top head-neck surgeons in the world and a full professor of ENT at Hopkins, examined me annually for throat and vocal fold polyps. He said that the vast majority of them are usually benign, however, if not removed, they had the potential to become malignant if the irritant persisted. The irritant, of course was singing, which if you are power singer, really beats up those vocal folds. I was never a power singer, even in my younger days, so I guess I was fortunate in that respect. Still, I underwent the exam every single year until I retired. When my doctor friend performed my last exam, and I informed him of my retirement, he said that it was about time, at least for my vocal folds, to take a break. I dearly miss my old friend.

Good luck, and play it safe,

Gary