Voice Care 101: Tips for Maintaining Vocal Health and Preventing Hoarseness

Your voice is a tool that you use on a daily basis, and if you’ve never had to be without it, it’s easy to take it for granted. It’s worth noting that your voice is an instrument, and it can be damaged if you’re not taking proper care of it. If you notice that your voice is sometimes hoarse, or it sometimes hurts when trying to communicate – it’s a sign that something is wrong. You might be doing something that’s damaging your throat or your vocal cords – and it’s important that you understand how to change that.

Staying Hydrated

Not just for your vocal health, but your physical health too. Hydration ensures that your vocal cords can function as they should and prevents dryness when trying to speak. Dryness can lead to damage, which may become permanent if it’s a constant issue.

Relax Your Voice

If when you speak it feels like you’re putting in the effort, you might be pushing yourself unnecessarily. Try to relax your voice more when you speak and put in less effort when you do so. This may result in you speaking quieter, but it’s better for your vocal health.

Aim to Breathe Through Your Nose

The quality of air that you breathe in can affect your vocal cords, and while it’s not always an option – you should be breathing through your nose rather than through your mouth. Inhaling through your nose ensures that the air is cleaner by the time it gets to your vocal cords, ensuring a healthier voice.

Rest Your Voice

As mentioned before, it’s easy to take your voice for granted. If you’ve been speaking a lot, singing, shouting or using your voice in general – you should know that it needs time to rest. You might notice that after a long day of talking, speaking becomes tiresome and your voice might start to sound hoarse. Know your limits and try not to do more than you’re capable of. You might find that you need to raise your voice more if you spend a lot of time in loud environments, which means you need to be even more careful.

Prepare Your Voice

If you know that you’re going to be doing a lot of singing or talking, it would be a good idea to practice a vocal warm-up beforehand. You can ensure that you don’t experience vocal fatigue for much longer, and there’s a much lower risk of harming your vocal health.

Knowing When to Rest

If you’re going to rest your voice, it’s important to know the signs and understand what they mean for you. If you can identify when there’s an issue, you can ensure that there’s no further damage to your vocal cords:

• Tightness or soreness in your throat: While tightness in your throat can be a symptom of many different things, understand that it’s not good for your vocal health. If you’re experiencing tightness in your throat, make sure you’re hydrated and resting your voice until it has cleared up.
• Reduced vocal range: If you’re having difficulty using your usual vocal range when speaking or singing, it might be a sign that you need to take rest for a little bit to regain your strength.
• Hoarseness: Hoarseness is a sign that your vocal cords are strained, and it can be a result of using them too much. This is most commonly experienced after long periods of singing or shouting.
• Speaking is an effort: Communicating with others might start to feel a lot more tiresome than it usually is. Suddenly pushing your voice out is more difficult and draining. This is a sign of fatigue, and you should make sure to rest instead of continuing to push against it.

Who to Call

Whether you’re experiencing vocal problems or have any questions, you can get in touch with an ENT doctor immediately to find out more. Reach out to ENT Physicians Inc., and call us today at (419) 318-4987 and get any answers you might need straight away.