Are you looking for proven swollen vocal cords remedies because your voice feels strained,
hoarse or tired?
Are you wondering how to heal strained vocal cords in an effective way so that you can
use your voice as soon as possible?
If yes, then don’t go away because in this video, I am going to share 4 tips on treating
a strained voice and swollen vocal cords.
Let’s start.
Hi and welcome back!
If we haven’t met yet, I am Katarina, I am a speech-language pathologist from How
2 Improve Singing and here on this channel, I share tips on how to use your voice in a
healthy and efficient way.
So, if you are new here, consider subscribing to this channel and hitting that bell notification
icon so that you don’t miss any of my videos.
This video is the second video in a series about strained voice, causes, treatment and
exercises to eliminate vocal strain from your singing.
If you are not sure whether you are straining your voice when singing, no problem!
In the first video, I talked about signs and symptoms of strained vocal cords.
If you haven’t seen that video, you can click here to watch it or I will link to it
at the end of this video too.
But now, let’s talk about how to soothe strained vocal cords and what you must do
on the way to vocal strain recovery.
Tip 1 Rest Your Voice When you have strained vocal cords from singing,
meaning that your voice feels tired, strained, painful, hoarse, breathy or croaky after a
vocal practice or performance, your voice is telling you that it needs a break.
A break from talking and singing.
I know this may be difficult for some chatty people, who cannot go one day without talking
or singing.
But vocal rest doesn’t mean absolutely no talking.
There are two types of vocal rest – absolute and relative.
An absolute vocal rest is prescribed for people with a serious vocal injury, such as vocal
hemorrhage or for people after a vocal surgery.
Hopefully, that is not you!
A relative vocal rest is decreasing demands on your vocal cords, which means using your
voice for only necessary communication needs.
It may mean skipping a party after your performance or letting other people do the talking.
The problem with after-parties is a so called Lombard reflex, which is an involuntary tendency
of speakers to increase their vocal effort when speaking in loud and noisy environments,
which after-parties tend to be.
In loud environments, we tend to use more vocal effort.
And that is the last thing your already compromised voice needs.
Tip 2 Steam Your Voice You as a singer already know that hydration
is a basic vocal hygiene rule to keep your vocal cords in the best shape possible.
However, internal hydration such as drinking of water takes time.
When you drink, the water does not come into direct contact with your vocal cords.
The water needs to be absorbed in your digestive system first to feel the benefits of hydration.
Luckily, there is external hydration in the form of steaming.
When you inhale steam, the water droplets come into direct contact with the vocal cords
and hydrate them directly.
Steaming is an effective vocal cord swelling remedy that helps to bring the swelling down.
You have a few options how to steam your voice.
You can use a steam room at your local gym or spa, you can take a hot shower or you can
use a personal steamer.
I made a video about the benefits of steaming your voice, in which I share my favourite
personal steamer and some tips on how to use it to get the best results.
I will post a link under the video so that you can watch it.
Tip 3 Try Laryngeal Massage Have you heard about laryngeal massage before?
Let me know in the comments below!
If not, that is ok.
Laryngeal massage is a therapy technique to eliminate vocal strain, during which a specially
trained professional or yourself use hands and fingers to touch and manipulate your larynx
to achieve less tension in this area.
Laryngeal massage is not for everyone but some singers and voice users love it.
Your voice, which is housed in the larynx is surrounded by several muscles.
Some muscles are deep in the larynx, some are on the surface.
We have access to the superficial muscles.
Tension in these muscles can cause strain and tension inside your larynx.
By massaging the muscles and manipulating the larynx into a more relaxed position, we
release tension and improve the vocal function.
If you want to learn how to self-administer laryngeal massage, I will put a link in the
description below so that you can watch my other YouTube video on this topic.
Tip 4 SOVT Exercises What the heck is that?
SOVT stands for semi-occluded vocal tract exercises and it’s a fancy name for exercises
during which we create a partial closure or narrowing in the vocal tract.
You may not know the name for these exercises but I am sure you have done similar exercises
in the past.
Examples of semi-occluded vocal tract exercises are humming, lip rolls, vocalizing on some
vowels and consonants that narrow the vocal tract.
SOVT exercises are a type of vocal strain exercises because they are very gentle on your vocal cords.
They use minimal vocal effort for sound production.
During these exercises, the air pressures below and above the vocal cords are equalized
and the vocal cords can vibrate freely.
The sound production is easy, more coordinated and less damaging to the vocal folds.
Therefore, semi-occluded vocal tract exercises are a great choice for singers with strained
voices.
In the next few videos, I will be talking more about different types of SOVT exercises,
so stay tuned for more videos by clicking that subscribe button.
And check out more videos on this topic right here below.
I will see you soon!