EASY TIPS ON HOW TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR VOICE
If you use your voice for your occupation, chances are that you want to pamper it and take extra good care of it. Doing so is not as hard as you think. Here are some easy tips you can do that don’t require much effort but will go a long way.
Hydration
This seems like common sense but you would be surprised at how often people forget to hydrate. As it pertains to your vocal cords and the mechanism in which they move and operate, hydration is actually key. Vocal cords are delicate, as is their movement, and they are covered in a thin mucosal layer that acts as a lubricant. If your vocal cords dry out, the mucosal layer thickens and results in irritation and can lead to many vocal cord issues.
Avoid foods/drinks that cause reflux
Your doctor can tell you if you have acid reflux or GERD. You may have symptoms of heart burn, throat clearing, or you may have no symptoms at all. In any event, if you do use your voice for your occupation, avoiding acid producing foods will help. These include:
- Caffeine
- Alcohol
- Carbonated beverages
- Tomato (including ketchup, marinara sauce, pizza)
- Citrus
- Chocolate
- Spicy foods
Humidify
Air conditioners, weather conditions, etc., can all contribute to dryness in the air. Sleeping with a humidifier by your bedside moistens the air and your vocal cords. This is especially important when living in the desert or if you have an upper respiratory infection.
Voice rest
If you feel like you have been overusing your voice or you anticipate an event where you will be overusing your voice, try to incorporate some time for voice rest either before or after. Ideally, you should rest your voice both before AND after you overuse it. If you are speaking in front of a large group, consider a microphone or some sort of amplification, avoid screaming or yelling, and learn proper projection of your voice with the help of a speech pathologist.
Stress/exhaustion
Stress and exhaustion never have positive effects on the body individually, let alone when you combine them. It is always important to make sure to have stress levels under control in order to produce the best vocal quality. The same thing can be said about resting. The right amount of sleep is always helpful in functioning at your maximum vocal potential.
Noelle is a Speech and Language Pathologist with a Bachelor of Arts in Biological Sciences from the University of Southern California (USC) and a Masters of Science in Communication Disorders from the California State University Northridge (CSUN). She holds a Certificate of Clinical Competency from the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA) and is licensed as a Speech-Language Pathologist by the States of California and Nevada.