Voice Care

Voice care-How to Keep Your Voice Healthy
• Drink enough water. Moisture is essential to keep your vocal cords well lubricated.
• Do not shout or scream. These are vocal abusive practices which put a lot of strain on the lining of your vocal cords.
• Warm up your voice before heavy use such as in singing, teaching a class, preaching, or giving a speech. Warm-ups can be simple, such as gently gliding from low to high tones on different vowel sounds, doing lip trills (like the motorboat sound that kids make), or tongue trills.
• Do not smoke- not only does it increase the risk of laryngeal cancers [voice box cancers] it is injurious to the vocal cords.
• Use a mike/microphone-When giving a speech or presentation or singing considers using a mike to lessen the strain on your voice.
• Listen to your voice. When your voice is complaining to you, listen to it.
• Do not strain your voice further when it is already hoarse
• Avoid throat clearing frequently- if you are clearing your throat frequently there might be some underlying problem.
• Avoid straining the voice when you have a cold
• Be aware of the medications you use some such as over the counter cold medications can dry up secretions and affect your voice