Increase Vocal Clarity and Protect your Singing Voice From Overuse
Edited by Denise Naugle, Eng, Doug Collins, Nuance
In this article you will learn the differences between certain foods that are good and bad for you for your vocal clarity. You will also find information on what you need to know if you are going to use your vocal chords are used all the time, whether singing or speaking.
Increase The Clarity Of Your Vocal Abilities
There are things you can do, and you should get into the habit of doing, to be kind to your voice. Likewise, there are things you shouldn't do, and things you should avoid.
What You Need To Do For Your Voice
- 1Always drink water at room temperature.
Advertisement - 2Add honey to hot water and drink before you sing.
Advertisement - 3RI colas with Echinacea in them at least 1 bag per day
- 4Vitamin A helps cells regenerate vocal folds. Vitamin A and many other vitamins are naturally found in foods such as sweet potatoes, carrots, dark leafy greens, winter squash, lettuce, dried apricots, cantaloupe, bell peppers, fish, liver.
- 5Vitamin C helps prevent colds and sore throat as well, it improves the body's immune system. Foods that contain Vitamin C include; bell peppers, dark leafy greens, kiwi fruit, broccoli, berries, citrus fruits (don't eat citrus fruits on the day of your event though because of the acid), tomatoes, peas, and papayas.
- 6Vitamin E is a very powerful anti-oxidant that protects cell membranes and improves immune functions. Vitamin E is found in; sunflower seeds, almonds, spinach.
- 7Manuka honey, which has anti-microbial properties - bacteria will find it hard to survive and reproduce in honey. The honey also makes it hard for mucus to dwell within the vocal cords. A spoon full of this will help keep bacteria away and will also help to heal sore throats faster than regular honey. If you can't find Manuka honey, try to find honey that is natural and organic. You can also add a teaspoon of honey to hot water.
- 8Anything whole grain is easy on the vocals
- 9Tropical fruit juices such as pineapple, apple juice, grape juice are good, especially if there is no sugar added. Avoid juices that say "fruit punch" or "fruit flavor", because these cheaper drinks do contain little, if any, real juice. Read the label carefully.
- 10A few drops of eucalyptus is a good remedy for damaged or strained vocal cords eucalyptus is slippery and helps lubricate the walls of the vocal membranes when they are dry.
- 11Steam has a way of soothing the vocal cords making them more flexible, which helps your singing voice.
What to Avoid Consuming
- 1Milk, ice cream, sour cream, cheese all dairy products are very bad for your singing voice as they promote the production of mucous and Phlegm
- 2Alcohol, Citrus fruits like oranges and lemons (on performance day), hot water and salt dries all dry out the vocal chords.
- 3Spicy foods, and coffee irritate the vocals and can cause permanent damage to the vocal folds
- 4Soda or anything with a fizz to it puts lots of air in your stomach causes acid reflux that comes up to the throat and can irritate it. For many people, the carbonation alone burns their throat.
- 5Ice, all cold items can cause your throat to stiffen and makes it harder to hit the high notes.
- 6Hot green or black tea contains caffeine and tannins that cause dehydration to your vocal cords which leads to sore throats, and often, vocal nodes. Although green tea has some healthy benefits, it can lead to damaging the vocal cords.
Ways to Keep Your Vocal Chords Healthy
- 1Doing warm-ups is essential. Your vocal cords are muscles that require much attention before you sing. Without warming up before a performance it can cause minor injuries or worse. Just as athletes before competition warm up, singers should do warm-ups as well. They are essential to prevent damage or strain to the vocal chords, which can lead to long-term issues. 15 minutes before the event would be a good time to warm up your vocals folds. This VisiHow article that will explain [Warm up your voice/vocal cords before singing Various Vocal Exercises.]
- 2Rest. When anything is stressed, it cannot work properly. This is how we should view our vocals when we haven't gotten that 8 hours important sleep. When our bodies are tired, so are our vocal chords, making our voice raspy and hard to hit high notes because lack of rest.
- 3Drinking water instead of clearing your throat. As soon as you feel the urge to clear your throat, drink some water instead. This takes practice but, it can be done. Clearing your throat constantly causes damage to your vocal folds. This becomes a vicious cycle - the more one person does it the more they feel they need to do it.
What To Do When Your Vocal Cords Are Hurt Due To Overuse Or Abuse
- 1When your vocal cords get damaged due to overuse during a performance, it takes 24-36 hours for them to heal fully. Do not use them during this healing period no matter what.Advertisement
- 2If they don't improve within two days, and you are taking care of your throat, they will begin to constrict, causing minor if not permanent damage to your vocal chords. The truth is - nothing can clear the vocal folds in order for you to have a unstrained clear sound better than water. So drink plenty of water while they are repairing.
I can talk so well from this place because several months ago my vocal cords or vocal folds were torn and I had to take 21 days to get them back to normal and the things I listed were the things I did and they are stronger than they have ever been. I still take the cod liver oil pills ever day with them keeping my vocals lubricated.
I hope this article has been helpful to you, for any question or concerns you may have concerning your vocal cords comment below I will be happy to answer your questions. If you follow these steps you are on your way to a healthy clear singing voice.
If you have problems with any of the steps in this article, please ask a question for more help, or post in the comments section below.
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Article Info
Categories : Music | Physical Health
Recent edits by: Doug Collins, Eng, Denise Naugle
