Q. I work as a teacher and every year I lose my voice and it often sounds rough and hoarse. What can I do to keep my voice healthy?
A. First, thank you for doing a wonderful job taking care of our children. Now, you need to take care of your voice.
Talking with tight cords or talking at the wrong pitch may lead to loss of voice. How much water do you drink? Do you work in a dry environment? Do you provide times for vocal rest?
The odds are you don't have any vocal pathology; however, a visit to your doctor to rule out a possible medical condition is advised. Some people develop vocal nodules and polyps on their vocal cords. Other people simply have red and swollen cords that are irritated.
Your doctor may advise you to have surgery and/or receive voice therapy. Vocal nodules (callous like formations) may go away or be reduced in size through voice therapy alone. In therapy, you learn to relax your vocal cords, how to breathe and how to keep your cords hydrated. You will learn the best pitch range for your voice so it lasts all day and you'll learn how to yell and talk in loud environments without damaging your cords. Improvement is often heard within the first session; about eight sessions are needed to treat a mild voice disorder.
My favorite exercise for vocal relaxation is the yawn-sigh. First, you start out by yawing as wide as you can; imagine the wide-open mouth of a lion roaring. Follow your big yawn with a loud and open sigh. You should drop your tongue down low in the back of your mouth and let the air flow out easily. Make an "AHH" sound like you do at the doctors' office; it should sound relaxed and open. Repeat this exercise at least five times.
It takes some practice to learn how to yawn/sigh, so keep trying. At first you may hear a crack or squeak in your voice and this is a good sign because it means the tension in your cords is being released. Soon you'll notice a drop in your pitch and you won't be able to yawn anymore because your cords are relaxed.
After your voice is completely relaxed then a therapist can help you find your perfect pitch range. It's similar to tuning your car engine so you don't waste gas. You don't want to waste your air and making sure your vocal cords are relaxed and then building up the amount of talking and varying loudness often helps.
Send your questions to speech language pathologist Nancy Barcal at nbarcal@surewest.net.
