Kate's Voice

It’s Monday, time for Monday Night Football.  Fans will be screaming in the stands and in the living room.  Some will end the day without a voice.  Most people don’t give laryngitis much thought, treating it  much as they would a runny nose or a cut on the finger, thinking it will get better.  However, the voice is more fragile than one would think, and even one bad scream can cause permanent damage.  Screaming is considered to be vocal abuse, not just misuse.  In most people, the small muscles of the vocal folds cannot sustain much abuse and laryngitis is an indication that you went too far!!

So if you go too far with that screaming, be sure to get some vocal rest.  Be quiet, drink warm liquids instead of cold, and write notes to people instead of talking.  Give yourself a couple of days to recover.

Note on SCREAMING as SINGING:  My children used to try to convince me that “screamers” in rock music could scream without hurting their voices.  Basically, this is completely false.  There is no way to have a strong, flexible,  healthy voice if you scream all the time unless you are a vocal freak…and there are some of those around too.  On the other hand, if you like the raspy sound, scream a lot, smoke at least a pack a day, and if your voice gets tired, rock on.

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