Hoarse Voice: How To prevent And Heal
Posted: Friday, February 08, 2008
by Per Bristow
http://www.BristowVoiceMethod.com
Ever gotten hoarse or even entirely lost your voice? You're not alone -- many people lose their voices when they have colds. What if there was a way to heal the hoarseness quickly and to even avoid getting hoarse in the first place?
Do you know what happens when you lose your voice, and why?
Ask an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat specialist) or laryngologist, or search on the internet regarding lost voice or hoarseness. You'll find that loss of voice or severe hoarseness can be caused by allergies, smoking, viral or bacterial infection, acid reflux, and even vocal abuse. The doctor may diagnose tonsillitis, strep throat, pharyngitis, or laryngitis, which is inflammation or swelling of the larynx, and can be caused by bacterial and viral infections, acid reflux, vocal abuse, etc.
But what if you were told that the illness, infection, allergies, acid reflux or other problems do not cause hoarseness?
Take a look at what really happens when you lose your voice.
Sound is produced when the vocal folds -- or vocal cords -- come together and vibrate. When they can't, you have no sound. When your voice starts to deteriorate, you begin to use more and more effort to produce sound, engaging muscles that wouldn't normally be engaged. When something goes wrong, the body always compensates to maintain equilibrium -- for example, you get a fever when the body produces heat to fight infection and restore equilibrium.
When you hurt your leg, you start walking differently. When your voice is irritated, compensatory muscles start engaging. In your desperation to produce sound, you use greater and greater effort. This results in greater and greater muscle tension and makes any potential inflammation only worse.
The tension and possible swelling becomes so acute that the vocal cords can no longer adduct, or come together. The result is, they are unable to vibrate and you have lost your voice. Swelling may be involved -- which may have increased due to the extra effort to speak, but often, the swelling isn't the main problem.
Often the lost voice is a tension/cramp situation that can be released quickly, and, seemingly magically, there is sound again. More importantly, a person with a trained voice has developed such an awareness of his instrument that on a bad day he knows what to do to warm up and to keep the voice functioning.
The trained singer/speaker knows how to create sound without adding extra effort and tension and without inducing swelling of sensitive tissue. The well-trained singer or speaker has developed an awareness and skill to know when it is time to exercise to release tension and create vibration or when it is time to be silent.
With increased awareness she also knows what to do to protect the body from irritants and infections. She also knows how to recover quickly in the event the voice has had too much. In essence, the trained singer/speaker learns to recognize signs before the voice "goes out," thus preventing hoarseness in the first place.
On good days we can away with anything. On bad days we need skill. While it certainly makes it more difficult to function when we are attacked by irritants, we need to remember that a healthy body will not succumb as easily to viruses and bacteria. Likewise, a strong, healthy voice is not as easily affected by external irritants. By developing an awareness of your voice, coupled with skills of what to do in certain situations, it becomes increasingly rare to get hoarse or lose your voice.
Per Bristow is a vocal and performance coach in Los Angeles. He is the founder of The Bristow Voice Method that for the last two decades has helped singer and speakers heal, free and empower their voices. To get more free vocal tips and free singing video lesson go to www.bristowvoicemethod.com
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