- Did you know that a simple sneeze can cause your vocal folds
to rupture and hemorrhage? It's true. But fortunately these occurrences are rare and can generally be
avoided by only allowing the sneeze to occur unstifled. Did you also know that
there is a range of things that you might be unwittingly
doing each and every day causing your vocal health to live on the edge of catastrophe? Keep watching because this
video is going to equip you with the information you need to save your voice from disaster. - [Female] Sound check. Check one, check two. G'day there. Welcome back to "Voice Essentials". If you're new here, hi my name is Dr. Dan and I'm a Contemporary
Singing Voice Specialist. For the past twenty-something years I've been helping voices big and small to avoid vocal wear and tear. Not only with great technique, but with the knowledge
we're going to cover today. No human voice is impervious to fatigue, sickness, or overuse. Consequently, every human
voice is susceptible to damage if the voice user knowingly abuses or unintentionally misuses their voice. It's all too easy to treat our voices like an infinite resource. From the moment we were born,
our voice has been there, but that doesn't necessarily
mean it will always be there. Many of you watching this
video may have experienced losing your voice. Now, this may have been as
a result of viral laryngitis or maybe even because you got over-excited while attending a sporting event. Complete voice loss known as Aphonia and partial voice loss labeled Dysphonia is rather debilitating and can affect your work, rest, and play. If you lose your voice
because of sickness, such as the common cold and flu, it's essential to rest the voice. The great temptation during
these times is to whisper. And actually whispering while you're sick can lead to vocal complications
because during sickness, the vocal folds are more
than likely swollen. Therefore, vulnerable
to the rubbing action that whispering activates. And during times of Dysphonia
or partial voice loss, it can be tempting to respond by merely applying more effort to the
sounds to achieve near normal phonatory output. Typically, this level
of exertion is paramount to yelling and quickly
causes wear and tear, endangering the health
of the voice further. Funnily enough, we can
subconsciously overexert the voice when we found ourselves
in loud environments such as cafes, classrooms, or the car. Yes, your car. Unfortunately, your
car, believe it or not, is a tremendously loud space, and therefore it makes for
a less than ideal place to make phone calls or even sing. I've disappointed more than my fair share of singing students
with the knowledge that warming up in the car is a big no-no. Now fortunately, there are
some tremendous warmup habits that will get you better results and we'll cover those in a moment. Actually, there are quite a few things we are gonna cover in this video, so I've designed an
infographic for you to download free from my website. This free info sheet
will help to remind you of all the things we'll
cover in today's video. So, be sure to place it somewhere handy where you'll frequently be prompted by its voice-saving info. Now, besides avoiding loud
environments like your car, it's best to avoid spaces
where the air carries high levels of pollutants,
such as smoke or dust. These fine molecules
are inhaled on the air and distribute throughout
your vocal tract, across the surface of your
vocal folds and into your lungs. Nasty stuff. In fact, where possible
you should avoid inhaling any air that is
contaminated with particles beyond the natural mix
of oxygen and nitrogen that our bodies are designed to breathe. So, smoking tobacco,
mariajuana, and even vaping should be avoided, or at the very least, reduced in frequency. Sometimes it can be challenging
to monitor the air quality that we breathe. But for the most part, we can
control what we eat and drink. And this is important
because what we consume can have significant impacts
on the health of our voice. The most crucial fluid we can
put into our body is water. If you're serious about your vocal health then drinking at least eight
glasses of water everyday will go a long way to keeping
your voice well lubricated. We do have to measure this against diarrhetics like alcohol though because a nice cold beer
or refreshing glass of wine will take out more
hydration than they put in. The other thing about alcohol
is that it is somewhat acidic, especially spirits. So it heightens the risk of reflux. Now, reflux is most often experienced as indigestion or heartburn. Known as GERD, this common form of reflux can cause havoc with the voice due to the bubbling up of
the acidic stomach juices. It's nastier cousin, LPR,
Laryngopharyngeal reflux, sometimes referred to as silent
reflux or singer's reflux is generally at its worst while we sleep because the horizontal
position allows the acids to flow up the esophagus, coating the rear of the larynx in acid. Both GERD and LPR require
the avoidance of things like spicy foods, coffee, carbonated
drinks, and yes alcohol. And it's right about now that some of you are
thinking to yourselves, Dr. Dan, you're a killjoy! I know, there are many
disciplines we need to employ in life to live well. And in this case, speak and sing well. So far we've mostly talked
about what not to do. So it's time to get proactive with some things that we can do. Let's start with sleeping more. Now, sleeping can be a funny thing. You can be at work and by
mid-afternoon all you want to do is crawl up in a corner and take a nap. But then, when it comes to actually going to bed late at
night we procrastinate, thus reducing our sleeping
hours to the bare minimum. Only to repeat the unfortunate
cycle the next day. Your voice needs you to sleep. Why? Well because your voice
isn't just your larynx. Your entire body is your voice. If your body is living tired then your voice is living tired. And we've already seen what
happens to a tired voice. So, tonight do your voice
a favor and get to bed at a reasonable hour. The second thing you can do is eliminate any habitual (clears
throat) throat clearing. Many of us clear the throat constantly without even realizing it. Frequent throat clearing
is wearing on the voice and causes the vocal folds
to be in a constant state of protective swelling. Not good. Now thirdly, be more
mindful of your hearing. Your ears and your voice are
interlinked in countless ways. How you use your voice can be, in part, intrinsically connected
to your hearing health. Many of us have had our eyes tested, but I wonder whether
you've ever taken the time to have your hearing tested. If you're a singer I highly recommend paying more attention to your
ears, and where necessary, using noise reduction buds for loud spaces and in-ear monitors when you perform. Another area of your life that
you may not have connected to your vocal health is your sex life. Oral health is super important when seeking to maintain vocal health. Sexual practices that
expose the mouth to bacteria simultaneously heighten
the risk of infections like oral thrush. Pay attention to where you put your mouth. Enough said. Talking of your mouth, during flu season our TVs and social media are
bombarded by advertisements for medicated lozenges. In my experience, if you need to use the
voice while it is sick try to avoid medicated lozenge. The numbing effect certainly
reduces pharyngeal pain, but it also removes the indicators that help us to mitigate vocal use. If your vocal tract is sore enough to need a medicated lozenge then it is sore enough
to not speak or sing. You may have noticed just
then that I indicated that if you're sick you
shouldn't be using your voice. Well, it's a little
more nuanced than that. But, in general, if your voice is sore and if you can hear a change
in your typical spoken sound then the chances are you should
zip it and rest the voice until the sickness passes. Have you also noticed that
much of what we've discussed in the video thus far
requires mindful awareness of the voice? Most people merely go through
life opening their mouths and hoping for the best and this includes many singers. But, blissful ignorance
does not protect your voice from falling into disrepair. What will go along way
towards ensuring the voice against wilful damage is the development of
proper singing technique. And on this note, you
might like to check out the free preview of my
online singing course Voice Essentials 1 via the link in the
description section below. The more time we spend with our voice, the more familiar we
become with small changes. Not only in the sound, but
also in the physical changes of the muscular scaffolding of
the shoulders, neck, and jaw. For example, the modern
practice of looking down at your mobile device for hours on end causes your neck muscles to work overtime. Your larynx is housed within the neck so being aware of poor alignment primarily through the
torso, shoulders, and neck is essential if you want
to use your voice well. Again, we can learn to become
more aware of these things if we spend time developing
our vocal technique. Another benefit of vocal technique, whether it be for speaking or for singing, is improvements in stamina. You might like to think of it this way. Every voice has a vocal budget to spend each and every day. Everyone's budget is different
depending on their age, well-being and other various factors. But the good news is you
can increase your budget with great technique. The more you have to spend the less likely you are to
live your vocal life in credit. We all know what happens to
people who live on credit. Eventually they can go bankrupt. Get your voice back in the black. Develop your vocal technique. There are, of course, a range of things that can happen with the voice over which we have no control. Ladies, take for intance your hormones. Yes, those dastardly hormones
can have a significant impact on the female voice. It's estimated that about
30% of women experience noticeable changes in the voice during their menstrual cycle. And symptoms of
pre-menstrual voice syndrome, or PMVS for short, include reduction in range,
insecure pitch accuracy, and for some varying levels of dysphonia. Ladies, if any of these ring true for you then I would advise speaking with your licensed health care professional about how you might mitigate
the symptoms of PMVS. Also worth noting is the
impact of hormonal fluctuations during pregnancy and menopause. The effect of menopause on
the voice can be significant, but you needn't suffer the effects alone. There are excellent online support groups for female singers who
are traveling through this change of life. If you're interested I'll leave a link in the description section below to one such group for
you to check out later. The emotional toll of inconsistent voice due to ever-changing hormones can cause heighten levels of despair, but as we know mental health issues such as anxiety and depression are actually no respecter
of gender, age, or race. We also know that performers are highly prone to poor mental health due to the constant rollercoaster of adrenaline-fueled emotions. Again, if you are or anyone
you know is suffering from mental health challenges I encourage you to seek care from a licensed healthcare professional. In this particular instance there is more than your
vocal health at stake. Speaking of vocal health,
you might have been watching this video and thinking to yourself, geez, I'm ticking a number of these boxes and now I'm concerned that I
might have damaged my voice. Well, firstly, here's the good news. Your voice is wonderfully resilient and more often than
not it will bounce back even after misuse. The bad news is there
are times when the voice doesn't rebound like we hoped it would. And generally speaking,
my advice to you is if after two weeks your voice
is still not fully recovered after a period of
illness or heightened use then book yourself in with Laryngologist for a full vocal assessment. Your friendly Laryngologist
will be able to look at the current health of your voice and direct you along a path of recovery. Which may, in turn, include
visiting a speech pathologist, and a singing voice specialist like me to assist your vocal rehabilitation. Personally, I think prevention
is always better than cure and that is why I always
advise a discipline of vocal warmups before
placing a voice under load. There's more to a vocal warmup
than meets the ear or eye. So click on this video if
you'd like to learn more about how to do a proper vocal warmup and I'll guide you through
the process step-by-step. I'll see you again in a moment. I'm Dr. Dan. Sing well.
