Hi, what’s all the hype about steam inhalation?
Are there benefits of steam inhalation for your voice?
Or is it another trend that will go away in a few years?
In this video, let me tell you what the research says and you may be surprised to hear about
some findings.
Stick around.
Hi!
I am Katarina, speech language pathologist from How 2 Improve Singing and here on this
channel, I share practical tips about using your voice in a healthy way.
So, if this is a topic that interests you, consider subscribing to this channel and hitting
that bell notification icon so that you don’t miss any of my videos.
You’ve probably seen all the YouTube videos with titles like “The best steam inhaler
of 2020” promising you to get rid of breathing difficulties, colds, flues and allergies.
Many sites for singers and voice users claim that you can soothe your voice or even enhance
your vocal performance with a dose of steam.
Are these claims true or are they just marketing tricks?
Let’s look at some evidence.
But before we do that, let’s talk about the vocal folds.
Healthy vocal folds have a layer of mucus covering their surface.
A big portion of the mucus content is water.
One of the functions of this mucus present in the vocal mechanism is a protective function
– it simply creates a mechanical barrier that protects the underlying tissue from damage.
This layer also keeps the vocal folds moist and lubricated, which is necessary for healthy
vocal fold vibrations.
However, if you expose your vocal instrument to conditions that dry the mucus, you may
alter how the vocal folds function.
For example, conditions like low air humidity, breathing through the mouth for a prolonged
period of time, environmental pollutants, acidic juices from your stomach, inflammation
caused by viruses or bacteria and many more.
When vocal folds are dry, they become stiffer.
Also, the mucus becomes thicker which affects the vibratory patterns of the vocal folds.
In addition, if you feel the presence of thick mucus in the throat, you can engage in harmful
behaviours such as throat clearing and coughing which may lead to more vocal abuse and vocal
fold irritation.
So, it seems obvious that good hydration is important for vocal health.
There are two ways we can hydrate our voices.
The first type is systemic hydration and it is basically general body hydration achieved
by drinking fluids or eating foods with high content of water.
This type of hydration takes time, several hours after you drink or eat.
Therefore, people got excited about the other type of hydration, which is quicker.
It is so called surface hydration, when high humidity air is inhaled and the moist air
comes into direct contact with the surface of the vocal fold.
And there are a few ways of surface hydration: you can inhale warm steam or a fine spray
of a water solution through a nebulization process.
A fun fact: Another way to maintain good hydration levels is to avoid dehydrating foods, liquids
and medication.
It has been believed for many many years that singers and voice users should avoid consumption
of caffeinated drinks.
However, recent research tells us that coffee actually may not be as bad as we thought because
drinking coffee was not link to lower levels of systemic hydration.
So, does that mean that you can enjoy a cup of coffee and not put your voice in jeopardy?
Yes.
Most likely.
Well, the truth is that the relationship between physiology, hydration and voice production
is not completely understood.
There are a few theories about what actually happens to the tissue of the vocal folds during
hydration.
The problem is that humans are complex creatures and it is challenging to measure the effects
of hydration on the function of such a complex structure like the larynx.
So, how can we tell if steam inhalation is beneficial for your voice or not?
Some of the research studies that set to look into the effect of surface hydration for voice
users and singers, use the following measurements:
#1 Jitter and shimmer.
Don’t click away!
I will explain.
When you sustain a sound, it is never a perfectly even sound.
The sound wavers slightly.
Jitter refers to the quivering effect of the frequency or the pitch and shimmer refers
to the slight shaking in amplitude, or loudness.
When jitter and shimmer values are high, the voice is more uneven and shaky.
Higher jitter and shimmer are typical for voice disorders, such as vocal nodules.
So, what is the relationship between steam inhalation and jitter and shimmer?
There are studies that show that steam inhalation significantly improves these parameters.
In other words, the voice quality improves, and the sound is more stable and smoother.
So, if you want to be able to produce long stable sounds, steam inhalation may help.
2.
Phonation threshold pressure or PTP is another measure to assess effects of steam inhalation
on voice.
PTP is the minimum subglottal pressure (so pressure under the vocal folds) that is needed
to start the vibration of the vocal folds.
If this pressure is too low, air passes through the vocal folds but no sound is created.
It was shown that dehydrated vocal folds require higher levels of PTP.
For example, after a period of mouth breathing, which caused dehydration of the vocal folds,
the PTP levels went significantly up, which means that the subjects required more pressure
to start the sound production.
So, when you are not well hydrated, you will require more effort to make sounds.
And some research studies also confirmed that steam inhalation improves PTP, meaning that
it was easier to produce sounds after hydration.
In summary, it is clear that using your voice at low humidity is more taxing on your vocal
folds and it is possible that you may need less subglottal pressure to produce sounds
when you are well hydrated.
3.
Finally, perceived phonatory effort is another measurement used to measure the effect of
steam inhalation on voice production.
This is a subjective measure, where people who experience dehydration or hydration report
their effort levels to produce sounds.
It has been shown that dehydration increased this perceived effort significantly and many
studies showed lower effort needed after hydration.
It is interesting to mention that when nebulization of various solutions was introduced as a way
of surface hydration, only inhalation of isotonic solutions led to decreased effort to produce
sounds.
So, if you are using a nebulizer, don’t just use plain water, use 0.9% isotonic saline
water.
By the way, if you are steaming to get rid of symptoms of common cold, flu or allergies,
you should know that steam inhalation may actually not work because the research does
not confirm the benefits.
So, sticking your head over a bowl of steaming hot water will not cure your cold or flu.
So, that was research data.
What is my take on hydration and voice?
It is clear that dehydrated voice will not function well.
So, I recommend keeping your body well hydrated by drinking plenty of water, eating foods
with high content of water and providing your vocal folds with steam or saline water mist
on a regular basis.
I personally steam every day and I love it.
I am a big fan of warm steam inhalation and in my next video, I will share my thoughts
on several personal steam inhalers.
I will tell you which one I like the best and why.
So, stay connected by subscribing to this channel and hitting that bell notification
icon so that you get notified when my next video is up.
I will see you in the next video.
Bye.