Articles

Preserve Your Voice

By Mr. K. Bala Ganesh : Speech Language Pathologist and Audiologist

The human voice consists of sound made by the vocal folds. During speech, the vibration of the vocal folds converts the airflow from the lungs into a sequence of short flow pulses. This pulse train, the glottal flow, provides the excitation signal of voiced speech sounds.
As with any other group of muscles in our body, the vocal muscles can become overworked and injured. The muscles are small and their tolerance of abuse is limited. The development of burning in the neck or throat can be an indication that you have worked them too hard. As with the strings on a guitar or piano, the quality of vibration of the vocal cords relies on their freedom of movement. Squeezing the vocal cords together too hard by straining or beating them together violently by coughing or frequently clearing your throat can lead to chronic abuse or swelling which is a precursor to vocal nodules, polyps, and cysts.

Vocal folds healthy working environment

Like fine machinery, the vocal folds require lubrication. Lack of lubrication leads to friction between the vocal cords, which can make the simple act of speaking a traumatic experience for them. In addition, we are exposed to many irritating agents on a daily basis and may not even be aware of it. Exposure to outdoor pollutants, industrial and construction dust, chemicals and even common household cleaning agents can be harmful. In addition, commonly used products such as mints, caffeinated beverages, chocolate and alcohol can be extremely drying to the lining of the vocal tract.

Our voice and the body mechanisms that produce voice are meant to last a lifetime. But the vocal mechanism cannot tolerate excessive wear and tear. There are good habits that can be practised to take care of our voice. Following are some of the guidelines for the vocal hygiene.

Don’t smoke: Smoking cigarettes, pipes, cigars and other substances can seriously harm the overall health and damage the entire respiratory system including the upper airway, throat, mouth and nose. The heat and inhaled chemicals cause inflammation, swelling, sometimes irreversible damage and cancer. The only way to counter the effect of smoking is to stop.

Eliminate habitual and frequent throat clearing: We all must clear our throat on occasion, but when we clear our throat we are “slamming” the vocal folds together hard. This can damage the vocal folds by causing inflammation and localized irritation. It is common for the people to get into the habit of clearing the throat without even becoming aware of it. So first, one have to become aware of throat clearing, and then to eliminate it. During the feel for throat clear one can sip some water first. If that is not effective, can do a silent throat clear by closing your mouth and saying the “h” sound (as in “hello”), followed by a swallow.

Drink lots of water: The entire voice producing mechanism (mouth, throat, vocal folds and lungs) needs moisture to work efficiently. During lot of talking (on the telephone, group meetings, one-on-one discussion) or singing always advisable to take frequent water sips (8 glasses per day).

Control and limit vocal loudness: Do not speak louder than the situation or environmental demands. Avoid yelling, loud cheering, speaking in over loud noises. Use amplification in large or noisy places. Don’t try to “out talk” others by increasing loudness. Be aware of how you use your voice in talking over music, over the TV, communicating up and down stairs in the home.

Balance extra vocal demands with voice rest: If you have to give a lecture or you know that you will be speaking for extended period of time, try to reduce voice use before and after these episodes. If you must talk a lot at work, try to reduce the amount of talking outside of work.

Humidifying the environment: Make sure that there is enough humidity in your environment. At night when you sleep, you may breathe through your mouth and swallow less than during the day, both of which will increase the dryness. Individual stream inhalers can be helpful.

Use caution with medications: Decongestants, allergy medicines and some other drugs tend to release fluid from body tissues, including the vocal folds. If your doctor has recommended that you take these medicines, you need to try to counteract their drying effect by increasing your water intake. Ask your doctor if there are any alternative medicines that don’t have such a drying effect. Alcohol is a drug and has a strong drying effect, as does caffeine.

During Laryngitis: When you have a true laryngitis, that is, hoarseness associated with an upper respiratory infection, the vocal folds become swollen and do not work properly. Do not try to override that or to force your voice. Use a very soft, easy and breathy voice and do not talk at all, till the swelling resolves. Talking too loudly or too much when you are sick can harm the vocal folds.

Laryngopharyngeal Reflux Disease (LPR): If you have any one or more of the following symptoms often, you may have LPR: sensation of heartburn, a bad taste in the mouth especially in the morning, a rough voice in the morning, greater than usual difficulty warming up your voice, a burning sensation in your throat or frequent sensation of excess mucous in the throat. You should talk to your doctor about this condition and obtain appropriate treatment. LPR can have effect on the health of your vocal folds.

This is the point of my article today...... to help each of us identify behaviours we may do which are abusive to our voice. Did vocal chords or vocal folds are very delicate tissues and are easily damaged? It is important to keep this tissue healthy and undamaged for social reasons as well as health reasons. Seek professional help for any problem, which persists for more than a week. Early intervention is the key to preventing most voice problems.

“We can all be a team to reduce vocal abuse and identify people with voice disorders”