Maintaining a healthy voice is paramount especially if you’re a choir member, onstage singer, actor, presenter, or rock band member. A healthy voice does not only improves performance but also boosts esteem.
For emphasis, your voice and how you use it tell so much about your personality, success, and emotions. This is why you have to avoid things that can destroy your voice and focus more on activities that will help you maintain a healthy voice.
What are the things that can destroy your voice?
Use of drugs
Certain medications or Drugs such as asthma puffers, antiseptics and antihistamines, acne medications, and anti-depressants may be dangerous to your voice. Short or long use of these drugs including smoking cigarettes can affect the surface of a vocal cord, destroy the thickness and also cause dryness.
However, If you must take any of these drugs mentioned do so under the authority of your doctor or health manager.
Drinking Alcohol
Alcohol messes up your singing voice and eventually leads to vocal cord dryness if used for a long time. It starts by causing throat dehydration which in turn results in excessive mucous that cover your vocal folds.
Smoking
Whether first, second or third-hand smoking is not healthy for the vocal cord. Aside from damaging your singing voice, smoking can cause you deadly and incurable throat and lungs diseases. Also, Tobacco smoke can strain your vocal chord, cause dryness and irritation to your throat.
Drink a lot of water constantly if you find yourself singing in a smoking environment.
Going to bed late at night
One sure way to damage your vocal cord or voice is by sleeping late. Late-night sleep affects your sleep adequacy and causes sleep shortages which consequently lead to certain health issues like respiratory diseases and throat diseases.
Hence, to maintain a healthy voice, refrain from staying late at night and get up to eight (8) hours of sleep every day.
Heartburn & Acid Reflux
Heartburn and acid reflux symptoms can affect voice and vocal quality as well. There are certain foods and drinks that can trigger it such as caffeinated drinks which include sodas, alcohol, and coffee.
Other acid foods that are not healthy for your voice are citrus, spices, and tomatoes.
Allergy foods
Avoid eating foods that your body is allergic to as they are unhealthy to your vocal cord and can impede your performance.
Throat Problems
Several health conditions like sore throat, harshness, bitter taste, halitosis, dry mouth, chronic throat clearing, cough, phlegm, a lump sensation in the throat can cause voice problems and then lead to low voice performance.
Laryngeal / Vocal Fold Paresis
Laryngeal or vocal fold paresis is a type of condition where a person has lost partial or full functioning of the nerve in the voice box muscles Mayo clinic explains. Further research shows that this condition severely affects the ability to sing, speak, and at times, swallow and breathe. Moreover, this happens after extended use of the voice.
Tips for Maintaining a Healthy Voice
Your voice is not indestructible. You need it in everyday communication which is why it’s vital to avoid habitual yelling or screaming.
Be aware of background noise; you may naturally be tempted to raise your voice in loud environments, but this can harm your voice over time.
If you feel like your throat is dry, tired, or your voice is becoming hoarse, stop talking and take a break.
To reduce or minimize voice abuse or misuse, use non-verbal or visual cues to attract attention especially with children.
Obtain a voice amplifier if you routinely need to use a louder-than-normal voice in certain settings.
And try to always speak in a normal vocal range or pitch; using an extremely low or high pitch can damage your vocal cords.
Avoid eating foods that are too spicy, acidic, or can cause heartburn.
Visit your doctor on time for treatment if you’ve got throat problems.
Eat healthily and get at least 8 hours of night’s sleep.
Avoid smoking and consult your doctor about your voice before using drugs or certain medications.
Final Note…
Maintaining a healthy voice is not difficult. All you need to do are eat right and well, drink plenty of water, don’t shout or loud your voice, don’t smoke, sleep early, go for a check-up regularly, and don’t self-medicate.
Also read 10 things you need to start doing to have a healthy vagina
Post source: medlineplus
