- You keep losing your voice
and you're pretty concerned about it
but you're not entirely sure why you keep losing your voice.
And more importantly, you're not exactly sure
what you should do to fix it.
Well, in this video, I'm going to reveal the top reasons
why we lose our voice and I'll suggest the necessary steps
you'll need to take to get your voice back on track.
- [Speaker 1] Soundcheck.
(screaming)
- Good day.
My name is Dr. Dan and I'm a nonclinical
singing voice specialist.
And for the past 25 plus years,
I've been helping singers care for their voices.
But you don't have to be a singer
to experience the frustration of losing your voice.
Dysphonia, partial voice loss,
and aphonia, complete voice loss,
can be debilitating because we use our voices
to communicate and express our emotions
and if you're a professional voice user,
like a school teacher, a gigging singer
or call center operator,
your voice is your primary vocational tool.
Did you know that voice loss has two main groups of causes?
The first group is often labeled as organic
because it categorizes many pathological reasons
for voice loss.
A term you'll often hear use concerning voice loss
is Laryngitis.
Now this catch all phrase is something many of us
have experienced at some point in our lives.
Acute Laryngitis may be caused by viral, bacterial
or fungal infection.
It's often caused by phonotrauma
or infection with upper respiratory viruses
associated with the common cold.
Often acute Laryngitis will resolve
as your body wins the fight against the infection,
either naturally or with the assistance of medications
and other therapies.
Now, episodes of acute Laryngitis
and the associated dysphonia generally only lasts
for about two to three weeks
but if the Laryngitis lasts longer than three weeks,
it is classified as chronic Laryngitis.
Robby Cooper, when writing about chronic Laryngitis,
states, "This may start as acute Laryngitis
that fails to heal or may have a more gradual onset.
Commonly multifactorial, causes include bacterial
or fungal infection, smoking, laryngopharyngeal reflux,
steroid inhaler use, allergies,
and underlying systemic rheumatologic inflammatory disease."
I cannot stress enough how important it is
to seek further medical advice
if your voice loss continues beyond the three week mark.
Ultimately, we don't lose our voice for no reason.
And it's essential that you, along with your laryngologist,
explore and identify the underlying cause.
One of the more common causes is reflux.
Now reflux can leave your voice feeling hoarse and fatigued.
Sufferers from reflux, gastroesophageal Reflux Disease,
GERD, and the closely associated LPR,
laryngopharyngeal reflux, if left untreated,
can both lead to voice loss.
Suppose your doctor finds reflux is the possible cause
of your chronic voice loss.
In that case, they may prescribe medication
in the short term and suggest dietary changes
as well as some lifestyle changes over the long-term.
One of the ways that reflux might be noted as a cause
of your voice loss is with either a fixed
or flexible laryngoscope.
The benefit of having this procedure is other organic causes
like benign pathologies might also be discovered
or ruled out.
Specific pathologies that might cause voice loss
include nodules, polyps, cysts, Reinke's Oedema,
sulcus vocalis, and vocal fold haemorrhage.
Classic symptoms of a vocal fold haemorrhage
are sudden onset of hoarseness during heavy voice use
with or without pain.
However, some individuals may have milder voice symptoms
with difficulty in only certain aspects
of their singing range.
Now not everything causing voice loss
is organic or pathological in nature.
And that's where the second group,
collectively called functional causes, comes in.
Generically referred to as vocal abuse or overuse,
functionally derived voice loss comes about due in part
or whole to how the voice user activates
and uses their voice.
A classic example might be the loss of voice
following a high school sports carnival
due to overenthusiastic yelling and excited screaming.
In many cases, such as this, the dysphonia
will be short-lived with the voice returning
to its normal state within days.
Of course, using, or as the case may be, misusing the voice
like this can lead to organic issues
like a vocal fold haemorrhage.
And a prolonged misuse might threaten the health
of the voice with the development of nodules,
polyps, and other pathologies.
Learning to use the voice well is vital for everyone,
particularly those who need to use it
as their primary tool in our vocation.
And it's important to note that some jobs
have a higher vocal load than others.
For example, school teachers have a very high vocal load
because they often talk for significant parts of the day.
Equally, many singers have high vocal loads
due to the heightened vocal function that singing requires.
Assessing your vocal load is important
because it may provide insights
into why you keep losing your voice.
Now, if you're a singer and you recognize
that you have a high vocal load,
you'll need to explore ways to carry
that load more efficiently.
And the best way to improve your singing efficiency
is to develop your vocal technique.
Online courses like my Voice Essentials 1,
Online Singing Course, are designed to reduce
hyper function and improve overall vocal proficiency.
Another area of functional concern that might lead
to some degree of voice loss
is called muscle tension dysphonia.
Muscle tension dysphonia, MTD,
is a somewhat general term describing some level
of maladaptive and inefficient voice use pattern
characterized by excessive tension in the muscles
surrounding the larynx.
It can be challenging to differentiate between MTD
and what might be simply classified as poor vocal technique.
While poor singing technique can also involve strain
and hyperfunction of the same muscles,
MTD is a more deeply ingrained
maladaptive voice production strategy
that has a degree of chronically typically
leading to pain, discomfort, voice fatigue,
and reduced vocal endurance.
At this point, it's also worth mentioning
the neurologically driven spasmodic dysphonia.
Spasmodic dysphonia, SD,
is a focal dystonia characterized
by bursts of irregular neuromuscular activity
that interrupt phonation.
Both MTD and SD require intensive voice therapy
and ongoing care will need to be discussed
with your attending medical team.
Hopefully by now you can see that voice loss
can be caused by several different things.
Each area mentioned in this video should be considered
and explored in direct consultation
with a medical professional.
In short, if you lose your voice as a one-off
and it returns to normal after two or three days,
it's probably safe to say you're good to go.
But if your specific issue regularly occurs,
frequently leaving you with partial or complete voice loss,
repeatedly, then I urge you to talk with your doctor
and explore the various options for care and recovery.
In the meantime, I've put together a playlist
of videos discussing some of the specific organic
and functional concerns I've mentioned in this video.
You can start watching these videos by clicking right here
and I'll see you again soon.
I'm Dr. Dan, sing well.