Miracle cure for concert coughs?


Could the following information help eliminate the maddening problem of serial coughers during concerts? In the recovery period immediately after stomach surgery coughing is exceedingly painful and possibly dangerous. During my recent stay in hospital a helpful nurse told me that coughs can be suppressed by gently pinching the windpipe at the base of the neck. I can confirm it works, apparently because it derails the small spasms in the windpipe that cause the cough. Surely worth including in concert programmes? Now perhaps someone can tell us how to pinch a mobile phone's windpipe?

Photo is of a 1922 Promenade Concert. Follow this link to find out what the sign to the left of the stage says. Also on Facebook and Twitter. Report broken links, missing images and errors to - overgrownpath at hotmail dot co dot uk

Comments

Joe Shelby said…
ah, if only they could have included this in Simon Rattle's speech at the Proms last year when he asked them to hold back applause during the Schoenberg/Webern/Berg works. The coughing between each movement might as well been applause, for the volume it managed to achieve.
Pliable said…
Rattle actually restarted a BPO performance of the Rite in 2003 when a mobile phone sounded in the auditorium -

http://www.classicalsource.com/db_control/db_concert_review.php?id=1448
Joanna Cazden said…
Sir Ralph Richardson was known to say that "the purpose of theater is to keep a large group of people from coughing." ... That tickly pre-cough irritation can sometimes be interrupted by the mental trick of labelling it a "false alarm" & swallowing vigorously instead. A smaller meal before the show also helps, as some irritated coughs are triggered by minute acid reflux ... 3 cents from a throat therapist

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