The Dental Suite giveaway

24

Taking care of your voice

Most of us take our voices for granted. Our voice is available when we need it and we use it to convey a great deal of meaning and mood in all our utterances. It’s only when things go wrong that we realise just how much we rely on our voices and how helpless we feel when our vocal chords are affected.

We are able to produce a sound from our larynx when the 2 vocal chords and their attached vocal folds close (adduct) and vibrate while allowing some air to escape. These vocal chords, which are meant to keep working for a lifetime, cannot work optimally if they are abused. So it’s important to take care of our voices, to prevent or overcome voice problems. The following are good habits to cultivate:

Don’t smoke: the heat and chemicals affect the whole respiratory tract and can sometimes cause irreversible damage.

Keep hydrated: drink sips of water often and have a water bottle near you as much as possible.

Avoid clearing your throat often: coughing and clearing the throat causes the vocal chords to collide and bang into each other which can lead to inflammation and irritation. You may not even be aware of clearing your throat, so try to take note of how often you do it each day.

Control and limit vocal loudness: try not to speak more loudly than the environment requires. Avoid yelling or cheering for long periods. This is especially important if you are a professional voice-user like a teacher. Try to use other methods to gain the attention of others, like clapping or ringing a bell.

Rest your voice: try to balance voice use with voice rest periods.

Please contact me for a free consultation if you have any concerns regarding your voice.

Tanya Collett 09 421 1337 • 021 949539 www.hearsay.co.nz

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