Keep Your Voice Young, Healthy

Healthy voice


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Keep Your Voice Young, HealthyTuesday March 28 2006 14:35 IST
Dr R Jayakumar

Speech is unique to human beings, and voice is its powerful medium. The voice is not only the medium for conveying the message, but also an outlet for expression of feelings. Depending upon the purpose for which the voice is used, individuals can be classified into conversational, presentational and performance voice users.

A conversational voice user is the person who uses his or her voice for conversation with fellow human beings. Most of us belong to this group. Though not uncommon, voice problems are less likely to develop in this group compared to the other two groups. Presentational voice users are those who need to talk a lot, because of their profession. Teachers, advocates, clergymen, preachers, salespersons etc constitute this particular group. Obviously, they put much more strain on their voice and consequently are more likely to develop voice problems. At the top of the spectrum are the performance voice users like singers, actors, dubbing artists, mimicry artists, ventriloquists and TV presenters. These are the individuals, whose voice needs utmost care and fitness, if they are not to develop voice related problems. Presentational and performance voice users together are known as the professional voice users.

Voice Of The Pros

Vast majority of the professional voice users have had, at one time or the other, some problem with their voice. And it is quite natural for them to get really upset, because for most of them their voice is their livelihood, apart from the fact that their ability to use their voice in a creative manner, gives them a sense of inner joy and contentment.The ENT surgeons, to whom most of these persons with voice problems presented, were also not fully alert to the nature and impact of these problems, till recently. Luckily, the development of laryngology (branch of medical science dealing with disorders of the voice box) as a super specialty of ENT has changed the scenario considerably. Many a voice disorder, for which there was no effective treatment, can now be dealt with successfully. And with better understanding of vocal physiology, care of professional voice has become more scientific and more evidence based.


Professional voice users are like vocal athletes. An athlete needs to maintain body fitness, if he or she is to perform to potential. Similarly, the vocal athlete or the professional voice user should maintain vocal fitness, to avoid injury and to perform well. In order to do this, it is essential to have a basic understanding of vocal physiology. For easy understanding, it is better to compare the human voice producing mechanism to a musical string instrument like guitar.

The guitar has strings, which can be set into vibrations by an external force (striker). The sound thus produced is low in amplitude and devoid of much quality. But the air in the body of the guitar imparts loudness, richness and individuality. This phenomenon is called resonance. If the shape or content of the body of the guitar is changed, so will be the sound produced. Human voice apparatus also has all these three components. Our vibrating strings are a pair of vocal cords situated in the voice box, which is in the neck. The force that set these vocal cords into vibration is the air we breathe out. Finally the air column in our lungs, windpipe, food pipe, mouth, nose and sinuses imparts the resonance.
Problems in any of these three aspects can produce voice problems. We all know that prevention is better than cure and voice is no exception. Careful maintenance of vocal tract fitness will go a long way in keeping the voice healthier and younger. We will look into each of these three vital parts in vocal physiology.


Care For The Cords

We have already seen that it is the expiratory air, which acts as the force causing vocal cord vibrations. Hence breathing assumes a very important role as far as voice producing mechanism is concerned. To have a good expiration, equally good inspiration is needed. For this, healthy lungs and a healthy heart are essential. Effortless and powerful breathing is the aim. Abdominal and chest breathing techniques are very useful for this purpose.
In abdominal breathing, the lungs expand vertically up to the level of umbilicus (belly button). Chest breathing also is an efficient technique, and is common in the fairer sex. Two wrong breathing techniques are clavicular breathing, wherein neck muscles overact during breathing, and paradoxical breathing, in which the abdominal muscles go inwards during inspiration. Both these techniques are harbingers of voice strain.
Normally inspiratory phase is much longer than the expiratory phase. But during voice production, the aim is to take a quick inspiration and to prolong the expiration as far as possible. Hence a regular breathing exercise, with emphasis on smooth voice production is very useful for all professional voice users. These exercises are done preferably on empty stomach. This has to be done in both standing and sitting positions.
Now we turn our attention to the strings- the vocal cords. They are twin strings, which vibrate simultaneously. There are many muscles acting on the vocal cords and they control the length, mass and tension of the vocal cords, thus controlling the pitch and loudness. Normally men have a lower pitch and women a high pitch. Children have even higher pitch and the newborn babies the highest pitch. Occasionally men can have a feminine pitch and this condition is known as puberphonia. The opposite condition, androphonia results in a masculine pitch for women. Both these conditions are correctable, with voice therapy and surgery.
Depending upon the structural and functional aspects of the vocal cords, each individual has an optimum pitch. This is the pitch at which one’s voice is most powerful. The habitual pitch is the pitch at which, an individual speaks or sings. Ideally both these values should be very close to each other, or better still should be the same. It is a common mistake among female singers to sing in a pitch, much higher than their optimum pitch. Over a period of time they are likely to develop voice strain.
Hydration is extremely important for the health of the vocal cords. Hence it is advisable to take frequent sips of water. Lukewarm water is most ideal, even though there is nothing wrong with minimally cold water either. Any agents causing excessive loss of water from the body must be avoided. Alcohol, excesses of coffee and tea are all to be eschewed. Hyper acidity, very common nowadays, courtesy fast food, irregular food habits, alcohol, smoking, stress and injudicious use of medicines is a well-known cause of vocal dysfunction.
Finally we will look into the resonance aspect. Without the resonance, the voice will sound monotonous and without character. Again with subtle changes in resonance, better expressions of emotions can be imparted. The palate, the nose and the tongue play important roles in controlling the resonance. A good control over nasality is very important for efficient expressions of different emotions. Practicing humming in different pitches is a very effective method of developing control over resonance.

Dispelling Myths

Two other areas, important to the professional voice user are diction and rendering. Diction is correct pronunciation with the suitable emotional expression. Diction requires a very good articulation technique as well as a good understanding of the literal and figurative meaning of the material to be presented. Rendering is the style of presentation, which again has to suit the occasion. A monotonous speech will be boring to listen, while adding intonation will make a speech much more impressive.
Age will catch up with all faculties of the human body and voice is no exception. Around the age of 45, subtle variations in the voice start occurring in both sexes. In males the habitual pitch starts to go up and in females it tends to slide down. The age at which and the rate at which these changes occur vary wildly from individual to individual. However, constant practice can prevent the aging process to a great extent. This is a hot topic today in phonology, and lot of research is going on.
Many voice professionals think that surgery on their vocal cords will spell the end of their career. Nothing can be more far from the truth. If the vocal cords develop lesions like cysts and polyps, the voice can be brought back to normal with micro laryngeal surgery. Another common misconception is that laser surgery is the panacea for all vocal cord problems. Sadly, reverse is the case. Barring carbon dioxide laser, all other lasers produce damage to the delicate voice producing parts of the vocal cords due to the heat generated. And most of the time the damage can be permanent.

We will conclude with the dos and don’ts for the professional voice users.

* Always drink plenty of water. There is no better medicine than water, as far as vocal cords are concerned.
* Regular breathing exercises are invaluable. If you are a hectic voice user, please find at least one hour everyday for absolute voice rest, while awake. There are no alternatives for regular practice of your art.
* Always do warming up prior to a programme. It is advisable to plan your programme in such a way as to put the most difficult number in the middle, and start and end with relatively easy numbers. This is known as vocal pacing.
* Avoid irritants like spicy foods, alcohol, and smoking. Excessive coffee and tea are both harmful to the voice. Extremes of temperature are not good for vocal cords. Hence avoid very hot and chilled foods. Give up irregular eating habits.
* Frequent clearing of throat is to be discouraged. Talking very loudly and fast can be very damaging to the vocal apparatus. So is the habit of talking in noisy surroundings.

These are the most frequent types of voice abuse, and should be minimized. Speaking or singing in a pitch, which is far higher or lower than the optimum pitch is the commonest type of vocal misuse. As mentioned earlier, this is a habit, which should be strictly prohibited.

(The author is vice chairman, Association of Phonosurgeons of India, chairman KIMS Voice Foundation & Consultant Laryngologist, Kerala Institute of Medical Sciences, Thiruvananthapuram-29)