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How to speak so as not to strain your vocal cords? That listening to us would be enjoyable and aroused curiosity? How to take care of your voice, communication tool, our inseparable business card?

Strains of the vocal cordscan happen to anyone. A he althy person is born equipped with many tools needed to live and communicate. One of them isvoice . We come into the world screaming how much strength we have in our little lungs. Then we do not realize that the voice, which we are abusing at the moment, will have to serve us well for several dozen years.

Voice is an acoustic phenomenon. By making sounds, we vibrate the vocal ligaments (also known as the vocal folds), which rhythmically and very quickly move away and come closer to each other. The exhaled air flowing underneath them gives rise to a voice wave.

Nature gives us the tone and tone "by birth". In terms of the timbre of our voice, as well as in appearance, we are similar to our parents, but only from the age of 14-16, when we undergo the mutation. Before that, we have a higher, childlike voice. During puberty, the cartilages and muscles of the larynx, vocal cords grow, the trachea, pharynx, mouth and paranasal cavities are enlarged. As a result of these processes, the voice of girls is lowered by 3-4 sounds, and boys by even eight (i.e. an octave).

Due to hormonal changes, the voice of women also changes during menstruation, which is why the singers do not want to give concerts.

Other changes in the sound of the voice are caused either by professional training for singers, journalists, teachers for whom it is a work tool, or by diseases or bad habits.

Hoarseness, cough, sore throat - silence

These are the most common symptoms of upper respiratory tract infections. In more severe cases, hoarseness accompanies infections of the entire mucosa and larynx, and often becomes silent and we stop talking.

Ordinary pharyngitis, most often viral, may proceed without fever or with mild fever. Then, home treatment is enough - drinking plenty of summer drinks and using pain relievers - lozenges, mouth rinses or sprays. It is advisable not to overload the vocal cords.

If after three days of such home treatment there is no effect orsymptoms will worsen, you need to see a doctor. Often, bacterial complications are associated with viral infections, and then the doctor must prescribe an antibiotic.

You must do it

So that the voice does not disappoint:

  • ensure high air humidity in the room where you stay most often
  • when not talking, breathe your nose!
  • find time to rest
  • don't stress
  • learn to breathe properly (the diaphragm should work)

How not to overstrain your voice?

In addition to throat infections, cigarettes, airborne dust, alcohol abuse, drinking strong tea and coffee, taking various medications, and air conditioning are a big threat to our voice.

All of these factors irritate the vocal cords and can cause inflammation. However, if we remove the cause of upper respiratory tract catarrh: stop smoking, stop drinking alcohol, humidify the air in the room we are in, and drink a lot of summer drinks - the symptoms will disappear.

Only in some cases the changes in the sound of the voice are irreversible. Hoarseness also accompanies polyps on the vocal cords, nodules, hypertrophic laryngitis, polyposis of the vocal cords, and finally - worst of all - tumors, benign or malignant (on the vocal cords or in the larynx). The introduction to the disease may be chronic laryngitis, silence and difficulty swallowing.

Is it possible to lose your voice?

No. A he althy person does not lose his voice forever, but only for a while, due to overload. There are a lot of muscles in the larynx and they react to fatigue just like any other. If someone who is physically unprepared enters and leaves Kasprowy within a few hours, all their muscles are sore the next day. It's the same with the voice. After an evening at a club with loud music, full of people we tried to shout over, we cannot speak the next day. It is the same with teachers - if, for example, they have eight lessons three days in a row, their voice cannot stand it. Because he also needs to rest sometimes. Most often it does not disappear, but loses its properties, but after a short vacation everything returns to normal. Shouting is also harmful: the volume of the voice should not exceed 80 decibels.

How not to strain your voice? Temperature and humidity

It is worth taking care of the conditions in which we use our voice. Our voice apparatus feels best at a temperature of 20-21 ° C. Air humidity is equally important. The optimal one is 60%, which is quite high. The more we talk, the greater the humidity should be. Certainly, sometimes to everyone fromour throats were dry during a long conversation, and if not, God forbid, someone was smoking cigarettes - it ended up hoarse. And everyone probably knows how beautiful singing sounds in the bathroom, where there is a lot of moisture. So let's remember about humidifiers, wet towels, and screwing the radiators on at night.

According to an expertPiotr Baron, journalist of the Polish Radio Three

First of all, it is worth listening to good role models - people who speak Polish perfectly (in my case it was Andrzej Turski). To have a good diction, read a lot out loud - short stories, columns. Try to speak clearly and chant the sentences correctly. You can record your voice on a cassette - when you listen to it, you can immediately catch all language “dirt”. You should choose the most convenient pitch for you, one that will make the listener neither tired nor tired. In the event of speech impediments, it is worth using the advice of a speech therapist and exercising regularly. diction, voice sound, text interpretation, modulation, the ability to use a pause, understanding of the text being read, editing information on a regular basis, as well as freedom of speech at the microphone (depending on the skills, various types of cards are awarded - from students, to reporter, to speaker).

How not to strain your voice? Avoid tobacco smoke

Another important rule of taking care of your voice is nose breathing. The air passing through the nose is naturally moisturized. In addition, the cilia in the nostrils catch microscopic impurities. While talking, we take air in our mouth very quickly, which means that we ignore this path of natural protection and thus dry the mucosa, and then we are more susceptible to various infections.

How not to strain your voice? Breathe deeply

The he althiest breathing is full, deep, i.e. diaphragmatic-rib breathing, at which our ribs move outwards and the chest slightly to the sides. We breathe best when we wake up, when we are relaxed. Then our diaphragm works calmly, without any jerks. Let's try to practice the same breathing during the day. Let's learn it. Unfortunately - by nature and in a hurry - we rarely use it, especially women. They generally breathe very shallow, peaks (the upper part of the chest widens mainly). It is the result of stress and the pace of life. That is why it is so important to relax, find time for even short moments of relaxation, regular sports or a walk.

"Zdrowie" monthly

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