What Is Vocal Hygiene?

Written by: Anna Pasternak / Voice Therapy / March 2020

Vocal hygiene, which most people may imagine it as, does not mean to wash your mouth but is simply a term used to  describe appropriate maintenance for a healthy voice.  As a speech pathologist any client that I am doing voice therapy with, I always ensure that I provide tips to the client for good vocal hygiene practice. Of course, there are many different ways one can maintain vocal hygiene, and this will vary for each individual client as many clients will or will not already be following these practices.

In order to maintain good oral hygiene, one has to:

• Refrain from overusing dehydrating substance including: alcohol and caffeine.

• Increase of water intake daily.

• Minimizing coughing and clearing of the throat, a safer option is to take sips of water to clear any mucous/residue, or do a silent cough ( where you push air out).

• No yelling.

• Do not speak at a  high volume or a whisper for a long time.

• Avoid speaking for longer periods of time.

• Always making sure that background noise is reduced when talking or singing ( when background noise is present you may tend to want to raise your voice, which will strain your voice).

• No smoking.

• Do not try to talk through loss of voice when you are sick.

When it comes to medications, here is a list of medications that could have a negative impact on your voice: (the following is excerpted from The Source for Voice Disorders Adolescents and Adults, by Sandra Kasper Schwartz.

• androgens

• anabolic steroids

• central nervous system stimulants

• sedatives

• narcotics

• tricyclic antidepressants

• inhaled steroids

• antihistamines (such as allergy medications)

• (some) cardiovascular medications/ACE inhibitors

• anti-anxiety agents

These practices are important for those working in professions where they have to speak a lot such as ‘i.e. teachers, singers’ to avoid developing any voice disorder. These practices are also important for those who have developed a voice disorder for whatever reason, and want to improve their voice, or maintain it to keep it from getting even worse.

Here are some more specific practices when one is experiencing certain factors that are affecting their voice: 

1. Those who have problems with dryness or thick secretions:

• Use a humidifier at home especially during the winter when the air is drier.

• Increase water intake to ensure your vocal folds and throat remain hydrated.

• Decrease intake of caffeine and alcohol as these a dehydrating substances.

• Make sure to breathe through your nose, as mouth breathing will dry out your vocal apparatus even more

• Speak to your doctor about decreasing use of antihistamines, and possible allergy testing if not yet completed.

• If any medications, check side-effects of these medication to see if this is the cause of what you are experiencing.  

2. Those who complain that their voice gets tired:

• Rest your voice after periods of a lot of talking

• Try to reduce your ‘talk time’.

• Doing vocal warm-ups before singing/talking may help prep your voice

3. Those who have to speak in loud environments and may experience more speaking/screaming should:

• Do not yell to someone from another room to get their attention but find them and talk to them while facing them.

• You can also create a signal to get the other persons attention such as whistling instead of using your voice to get their attention. 

• Try to reduce any background noise such as music/TV/loud environments, so that you do not have to raise your voice to talk over something that is already loud.

4. Those who throat clear/cough:

• Stop smoking

• Using the ‘silent cough’ as describes above and take more sips of water

• Assess swallowing, to make sure that you are not aspirating food/drinks/saliva.

• If you have diagnosis of GERD (reflux) follow recommendations specific to this, as reflux can cause you to throat clear or cough excessively.

These are all good practices to follow, if you are experiencing difficulties with your voice. Please contact your SLP if you need more information on your specific voice difficulties that you are experiencing. An SLP can give you advice and create a plan to meet your specific voice goals.

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To speak with one of the speech-language pathologists at Well Said: Toronto Speech Therapy, schedule an initial consultation by clicking the link below or calling (647) 795-5277.

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