In honor of World Voice Day, Florida E.N.T. & Allergy is joining voice professionals worldwide to encourage you to assess your vocal health.
Voices help to shape who we are- through their own characteristics and through the words they help shape. Vocal health is often overlooked and misunderstood. Symptoms of voice problems often include roughness, hoarseness, a whisper, discomfort to talk, and strain or loss of control. These symptoms could be caused by something relatively routine, or possibly a more serious health condition.
six steps for better
vocal health
1. Drink water- Water helps to lubricate your vocal cords, which vibrate quickly when in use. Drinking plenty of water helps keep them healthy. You can also “eat” your water by consuming foods with high water content such as watermelon, strawberries and grapefruit.
2. Take a vocal nap- Extended voice use can cause major stress on your vocal cords. If you are yelling, talking or singing for long periods of time, it is important to take a vocal nap. To do this, doctors recommend staying completely quiet for at least 30 minutes.
3. Use a microphone- If you find that you are frequently speaking in front of large groups of people, it is important to use a microphone to amplify your voice instead of straining it by trying to speak loudly.
4. Stop clearing your throat- When you clear your throat, your vocal cords are essentially slamming together. This can be very damaging. If you feel the urge to clear your throat, try drinking a glass of water. If this is a continuous problem, seek help from a doctor.
5. Quit smoking- Smoking can lead to a wide variety of voice and vocal cord issues. Smoking increases the risk of throat cancer, irritates and dries out the vocal cords and causes nodules to develop.
6. Watch how you speak- Speaking comes naturally to most of us, so we very rarely pay attention to the manner in which we do it. To keep vocal cords healthy, it is important to pause between sentences and maintain proper breath flow.
Florida E.N.T. & Allergy’s Center for Voice & Swallowing is dedicated to the education, treatment and management of voice related disorders.
The physicians and speech pathologists at the Florida Center for Voice & Swallowing offer a wide range of diagnosis and treatment options for voice-related services for patients 10 years of age and up, and have the experience and technology needed to precisely diagnose and measure the degree of voice issues or loss.
“Someone’s voice health is critical to effective communication. We are very excited to provide access to crucial care in the Tampa Bay community,” says Florida E.N.T. & Allergy Laryngologist, Daniel Vincent, M.D., F.A.C.S.
For additional information or to schedule an appointment, please call 813-879-8045 or visit Florida E.N.T. & Allergy online at www.FloridaENTandAllergy.com.