Healthy vocal cords are key to having a strong voice
Monday, December 10 2007, 01:48 AM EST
Contributed by: R.J. Ignelzi
SOUNDING OFF
In the early years of her teaching career, Catherine Close frequently lost her most important teaching tool - her voice.
"Like a lot of teachers, especially at the beginning of the school year, I was always hoarse and losing my voice," says the 22-year classroom veteran who teaches English as a second language at La Costa Canyon High School in Carlsbad, Calif.
"I was trying to talk louder (than normal) and instead of speaking from my diaphragm, I was speaking from a higher place in my chest, probably due to tension. Pretty soon I had no voice."
Although teachers are at the top of the list of those suffering from laryngitis due to professional demands, they're definitely not the only ones. One-quarter of the U.S. work force considers their voices to be necessary to their job, according to the National Center for Voice and Speech in Denver. Lawyers, broadcast journalists, actors, singers, telemarketers, clergy, coaches and even parents who constantly use their voices are at risk for painful problems that can damage the vocal cords.
It's not just occupational vocal overload that's hard on your voice. Vocal cord inflammation also can be caused by cheering for your football team, trying to carry on a conversation in a loud restaurant, or a simple viral infection or allergy. Poor air quality can also irritate the larynx and lead to coughing and throat clearing, which only exacerbate voice problems.
PREVENTING VOCAL STRAIN
The National Center for Voice and Speech estimates that 28 million Americans experience daily voice problems.
"It's more than just hoarseness. Anybody who overuses their voice or who often has to amplify their voice to make their voice understood is causing trauma (to the vocal cords)," says Lisa Blumenfeld, speech pathologist and manager of Voice and Swallowing Center at Scripps Memorial Hospital in San Diego.
Just as walking too much in poorly fitting shoes can cause calluses and blisters, overusing or stressing the voice can cause the vocal cords to slam together, creating swelling and calluslike nodules on them.
Vocal cords or folds vibrate very rapidly, about 200 times a second. This opening and closing of the cords with each vibration creates the sound of our voice. If nodules or inflammation change the shape or makeup of the vocal cord and prevent the cords from completely closing, the sound is affected. Hoarseness and breathiness result. This often prompts sufferers to use other vocal and throat muscles to compensate, which creates even more vocal strain.
"If left untreated, nodules can grow in size and will have a significant impact on how your voice sounds," Blumenfeld says. "If you rely on your voice for your profession or to do business and the hoarseness progresses, it can be a real problem."
Our voice also changes as we age. "As we get older, the muscles and tissues atrophy, so the vocal folds become less bulky, don't completely close and the voice becomes thin or weaker," says Stephen Goldman, supervisor of speech pathology services at University of California San Diego Medical Center. He notes that women's voices tend to get lower with age, as men's voices become higher in pitch.
No matter if your voice change is a result of age, strain or illness, it's important not to ignore it.
"Hoarseness is not normal. It's a sign or a symptom of something occurring with the vocal cords, and if it persists, it should be (checked out)," Goldman says.
Getting your voice back is sometimes just a matter of talking less or talking differently. Through yoga and choir instruction, teacher Catherine Close not only learned breath control and how to speak to her class with less intensity and force, she also found ways to get their attention without opening her mouth.
"If (students) are making noise, I don't try to talk over them anymore. Now, I just use my bell," Close says.
If you don't have your normal voice back within a couple of weeks of getting hoarse, see a doctor. You may be referred to a speech pathologist for voice therapy.
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