Q: I practice singing Carnatic music daily for four hours. One day while singing, I suddenly got severe pain in my throat. The doctor said that vocal cords are infected and prescribed ampicillin. It has been a year and the problem still persists. Last summer I ate lots of mangoes; could the problem be due to some food allergy?

A:No Mangoes taken once don't have to be the culprit in this case. But food allergy may at times affect the vocal cords, but then that is known to the person and it always happens when that particular food stuff is taken. In your case, you must have strained the vocal cords due to forceful stretching caused by singing in high pitch. The strain sometimes causes the vocal cords to swell and therefore causes pain. Just make sure that when you sing in high pitch you don't strain the cords. Take deep breaths and don't force the air through the cords forcefully. A good singing style is the best remedy for you.