As the summer winds down and the busy back-to-school season begins, many people start to experience vocal strain and fatigue. Whether you're a teacher returning to the classroom, a professional ramping up your meeting schedule or a performer headed into fall rehearsals, the sudden uptick in voice use can take a toll.
At Tufts Medicine's voice clinic, we often see a rise in voice complaints in the fall. After a few months of reduced voice use during summer vacation, abrupt shifts to lengthy meetings, phone calls or performances can lead to hoarseness, strain, throat discomfort or even vocal injury.
Tufts Medicine Voice Care's experts, voice-specialized speech pathologist and singing voice specialist Caroline Murrah and laryngologist Dr. Ashley O'Connell Ferster, are here to help you optimize your vocal health and get back to your passions.
Here are 5 vocal health tips to help you navigate the back-to-school transition:
- Slow down
Speaking quickly leaves us little time to breathe, which can cause vocal strain. Breath is like the fuel for your voice—if we don’t have enough of it, the muscles around the vocal folds tend to squeeze to compensate, resulting in strain or throat discomfort. By slowing down your speech, you give yourself more time to breathe, reducing the risk of vocal strain or fatigue.
- Be mindful of your volume
Activities like shouting at a baseball game or talking loudly over noise in a restaurant can tire your voice and irritate the vocal folds. That doesn’t mean you need to completely avoid these fun activities – just be aware that too much can irritate the voice. We also tend to speak more loudly on video calls or the phone, so it can be helpful to monitor your volume. If your voice is tired, find ways to reduce background noise during conversations, like turning down the radio or choosing a quieter restaurant.
- Take a "vocal nap"
If you've been using your voice a lot or it feels tired, taking even 5-10 minutes to rest your voice can be beneficial. Just like any other muscles in your body, your vocal folds need time to rest and recover. Schedule short breaks throughout your day to give your voice a break, especially after prolonged periods of speaking or singing.
- Limit throat clearing
When we clear our throats, the vocal folds collide with force, like clapping your hands together. This can irritate the vocal fold tissue, especially if throat clearing becomes a habit. Additionally, irritated tissue tends to produce mucus (that we then want to clear), so it can turn into a vicious cycle.
Try replacing a throat clear with a hard swallow, with or without water. Imagine squeezing your throat muscles as you swallow. This serves as both a distraction technique and a way to help clear throat mucus. It’s important to note that sometimes throat clearing is necessary, especially if you have a lot of mucus coming up from your chest or if you have been sick.
- Stay hydrated
Drinking at least 6-8 cups of water daily helps maintain vocal health. Adequate hydration helps your vocal folds vibrate more gently. Remember that high water content fruits and veggies, like watermelon or apples, also contribute to your daily fluid intake.
Tufts Medicine Voice Care treats the full spectrum of voice issues and our team has specialized training in the care of singers and professional voice users. We would love to meet you and help you achieve your voice goals!
