In case I’ve been unable to emphasize on you, I must tell you again that a voice problem cannot be treated by surgery, medicine or diet alone. What needs to be understood is that it like other voluntary muscles in your body in many ways, and that it requires a little bit of rest when overworked.Here are a few tips:
- Make sure you hydrate yourself well. An extra 6-8 glass of water is something that would lubricate your throat more and reduce the friction on your vocal cords.
- Avoid Throat clearing, coughing, whispering, shouting, as they are bad vocal hygiene habits. These lead to unnatural strain on the vocal cords, sometimes leading to permanent scarring and thickening, and thus a bad voice for life! If your throat feels irritated, try a sip of water and do DEEP SWALLOWING instead.
- Do not speak at all for 2 days in case you have undergone a vocal cord surgery or are suffering from a very bad throat infection. A tired horse needs to be rested.
- Besides formal Speech therapy, you should practice HUMMING therapy on your own. Inhale deeply, and then slowly release the sound HMMMMM…through your nose. Go soft, and low pitch to slightly high over a period of a few seconds. Repeat a few times.
- Improve your chest support. An upright comfortable sitting or standing position is the best for speech. In order to reduce strain, you must learn to speak slower, allowing for breathing spaces in between.
- Good dietary habits are a key to good voice. Unhealthy oils, spices and overeating, especially dinner time increase acidity levels in your throat, also called GERD or gastroesophageal reflux, thus causing phlegm deposition and swelling.
- We all know that smoking causing throat cancer. It is but natural for me to suggest that this extravagance must be kicked out of your daily routine as soon as possible. The dehydrating effects of alcohol also warrant its use as moderately as possible.