Connect with your voice

Voice is a primary tool for communications. Apart from maintaining social connections, occupations of millions of people depend on the use of voice. Despite its importance, many people, including many occupational voice users do not pay attention to their voice until they develop a significant problem with it. There is a need to increase awareness on prevention of voice problems and enhance the vocal health of individuals in professions with high voice demands.
In an effort to encourage men and women, young and old, to assess their vocal health and take action to improve or maintain good voice habits, World voice day will be observed on April 16, 2013 with the theme Connect with your voice. Here are some tips for healthy voices.
Voice problems usually are associated with hoarseness (also known as roughness), instability, or problems with voice endurance. Voice problems arise from a variety of sources including voice overuse or misuse, cancer, infection, or injury. Here are steps that can be taken to prevent voice problems and maintain a healthy voice:
Drink water: Keeping your body well hydrated by drinking plenty of water each day (6-8 glasses) is essential to maintaining a healthy voice. Avoid or moderate substances like alcohol and caffeinated beverages (coffee, tea, soda) that cause dehydration.
Do not smoke: In addition to being a potent risk factor for laryngeal (voice box) cancer, smoking also causes inflammation and polyps of the vocal cords that can make the voice very husky, hoarse, and weak.
Do not abuse or misuse your voice: Try not to talk loudly in locations with significant background noise or noisy environments. If you feel like your throat is dry, tired or your voice is becoming hoarse, stop talking. Obtain a vocal amplification system if you routinely need to use a "loud" voice especially in an outdoor setting. Warm up your voice before heavy use such as gently gliding from low to high tones on different vowel sounds, doing lip trills (like the motorboat sound that kids make), or tongue trills.
Minimise throat clearing: Clearing your throat can be compared to slapping or slamming the vocal cords together. Consequently, excessive throat clearing can cause vocal cord injury and subsequent hoarseness. An alternative to voice clearing is taking a small sip of water or simply swallowing to clear the secretions from the throat and alleviate the need for throat clearing or coughing.
Moderate voice use when sick: Reduce your vocal demands as much as possible when your voice is hoarse due to excessive use or an upper respiratory infection (cold).
Hoarseness or roughness in your voice is often caused by a medical problem. Contact an otolaryngologist — head and neck surgeon if you have any sustained changes to your voice.

The write up is compiled by Prof Dr M Alamgir Chowdhury, Head of the Department of ENT (Head & Neck Surgery), Anwer Khan Modern Medical College. E-mail: alamgir.chowdhury07
@gmail.com