Taking good care of your voice can mean having both a preventive and remedial approach. I’m going to have a look at both in this two-part series.

Preventative

Taking care to NOT injure your voice is the first and best thing you can do for your vocal longevity and effectiveness.  There are many things that you do during the day that you may not even be aware of that can cause vocal strain or fatigue. Let’s look at some of them.

Overuse and Abuse

There are many ways that we abuse or overuse our voice. Simply talking for long periods of time can do this. Especially if you are speaking at an elevated level like when you’re at a wedding reception and the band is playing loudly. Most weddings occur on Saturday and if you talk your way into the night at the reception, you may well find your vocal cords swollen and tender in the morning. Not the best thing for your Sunday morning service!

Yelling at the kids (or spouse-yikes!) can be damaging as well. Any strain on the cords will eventually cause you problems. If you find yourself constantly dealing with throat issues, you may well need an overhaul on your lifestyle. Perhaps the way you speak is causing strain, or the way you sing. Allergies are also really hard on the vocal folds. Post nasal drip is very irritating to the cords.

Coughing/Clearing Your Throat

Both coughing and clearing your throat are very abrasive. I frequently give the illustration that clearing your throat is akin to scratching the vocal folds with sandpaper.  My Ear, Nose and Throat doctor has told me, that you can cause your cords/folds to BLEED simply from clearing your throat too rigorously.  So what is a body to do when there is that annoying phlegm riding on

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