The Mirror reported on an interesting speech and language issue last week: voice. The soprano singer Lesley Garrett was interviewed about her fear of losing her voice when she suffered a vocal fold haemorrhage during a concert. You can read the article in full here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/lifestyle/health/lesley-garrett-i-was-terrified-id-never-812908
Ms Garrett describes the moment that her voice went during a concert performance; “I knew it was serious. I couldn’t make my usual tone and managed to croak my way to the end of the song in the very lower part of my voice. I could just about make a noise but it was unpleasant. It didn’t hurt but it felt catastrophic. My understudy was called and I went home in tears thinking my career was over. It felt like my larynx was broken. I’d never had anything like it.”
On further investigation with an Ear, Nose and Throat specialist, it was revealed that Ms Garrett had suffered a haemorrhage or bleed in one of her vocal folds, causing her larynx (which houses the vocal folds) to become black and swollen. Once the swelling had reduced, Ms Garrett began to see a Speech and Language Therapist specialising in voice disorders.
“She gave me a list of rules to protect my voice. I had to avoid atmospheres that dry you out, like air conditioning or smoky rooms, drink lots of water and avoid caffeine and alcohol, which dehydrate you.”
“I also have to avoid food that’ll give you acid reflux, the biggest cause of damage to the vocal cords. I’m quite prone to that and I was suffering from acid reflux at the time.”
“Then we started to retrain my speaking voice with different exercises. Professional singers are like athletes. We’re in training all the time, and it might surprise you to know that I have singing lessons every week, even after 30 years. I have a personal vocal fitness trainer and I’d be lost without her.”
“When you’re a singer, your voice is everything. I wasn’t supporting my speaking voice properly, I had a dramatic temperature change from my dressing room to the stage, I had two young children so wasn?t getting much sleep, as well as having a cough and hay fever all things that put strain on your vocal cords. There’s a safe way to cough, so I had to retrain that, as well as other vocal habits I?d had my entire life. It was such hard work.”
The Voice and Swallowing Institute in New York has a helpful list of recommendations available for individuals who are interested in practicing voice conservation or good vocal hygiene: http://www.nyee.edu/cfv-tips.html
If you think that a relative or friend may benefit from speech and language therapy or associated therapies, I.T.S could be of help. Contact us here:
https://integratedtreatmentservices.co.uk/contact-us/enquiry
Sarah Bennington, May 2012
Written on behalf of Integrated Treatment Services. Integrated Treatment Services is a private Speech and Language Therapy service based in Leicestershire, East Midlands and Southern England. It specialises in providing highly-skilled Speech and Language Therapists, but also associates with other therapeutic professionals, including Occupational Therapists, Physiotherapists, Psychologists and Arts Psychotherapists
