How Teachers Can Protect Their Vocal Cords, Achieving Voice Health Principles

How Teachers Can Protect Their Vocal Cords, Achieving Voice Health Principles

"Speaking" is an important tool for expression and communication. A normal voice not only allows one to express needs appropriately but also helps cultivate good interpersonal relationships. As the pace of modern society accelerates, the misuse of voice and incorrect speaking methods have led to an increase in hoarseness and other vocal problems. Generally, long-term overuse of the voice and poor speaking habits can easily lead to vocal cord diseases. Initially, this may manifest as chronic laryngitis, gradually developing into nodules of 1 to 2 centimeters in size on the medial point of the anterior two-thirds of the vocal cords, referred to as vocal cord nodules. Vocal cord nodules are commonly seen in parents who often yell at their children, children who shout with joy, as well as teachers, business people, salespersons, and others in vocations requiring extensive vocal use.

Teacher Mantou’s job requires long hours of speaking. If I forget to bring a microphone or if the environment is noisy, I need to speak loudly. However, when I get home, I don’t want to say a word unless necessary. Gradually, I’ve mastered some speaking techniques, which have improved the situation, but protecting my throat is still very important. Therefore, I’m sharing this article to help those who frequently use their throats take good care of them.

How to Maintain Your Vocal Cords

1. Use an appropriate volume when speaking: Avoid yelling or raising your voice, especially in noisy environments; using a microphone can help avoid the downsides of speaking loudly.
2. Maintain an appropriate speaking speed, and take breaths when necessary. Limit the number of words per sentence to no more than seven to ten words, and pause and breathe between sentences.
3. Speak at an appropriate volume, pitch, and speed. Avoid speaking too low to reduce resistance during speech and tension on the vocal cords, and maintain emotional stability while speaking.
4. Slow down your speaking speed: Speaking too quickly can cause tension in the throat muscles, increasing the burden on the vocal cords. Speak slowly, and try to use abdominal strength to project your voice.
5. Use a soft voice: Relax and gently start each sentence, allowing airflow and sound to come out simultaneously.
6. Avoid misuse of the vocal cords: Do not excessively clear your throat, yell, or speak for extended periods.
7. Pay attention to vocal rest: Avoid talking excessively during work, and limit long conversations or phone calls during breaks.
8. Stay hydrated: Adequate water intake is essential for throat lubrication. Research indicates that sufficient hydration has a positive effect on hoarseness and voice loss. Drink warm water to replenish moisture lost due to prolonged use, keeping the throat moist and the mucosa clear.
9. Maintain emotional stability, get sufficient sleep, and engage in appropriate exercise to keep vocal cord elasticity.
10. Avoid irritating foods such as cigarettes, alcohol, spicy foods, coffee, and strong tea. Avoid smoking and drinking: Tobacco and alcohol are irritants to the vocal cords, easily causing inflammation, and alcohol can dry out the mucus on the vocal cord mucosa. Although there is no strong evidence showing that caffeine causes hoarseness, it can also dry out the mucus on the vocal cord mucosa and exacerbate symptoms of gastroesophageal reflux, so reducing caffeine intake is a reasonable suggestion.
11. Be aware of emotional stability while speaking: During periods of extreme emotion, such as anger or sadness, avoid excessive vocal expression.
12. During a cold, don’t push it; allow your throat to rest and minimize vocal use.
13. Avoid relying on "neck strength" when speaking; it’s best to use diaphragmatic breathing and speak comfortably.
14. Limit vocal use right after waking up since the vocal cords are often swollen upon waking, making them more susceptible to injury.
15. If you feel mentally fatigued, physically unwell, or sleep-deprived, avoid excessive talking or straining your voice. Maintain emotional stability, get enough sleep, and engage in appropriate exercise to keep vocal cord elasticity.
16. Avoid excessive talking or singing after eating since blood concentrates in the stomach for digestion, reducing blood flow to the brain and making it harder to control the diaphragm, leading to hoarseness.
17. When singing, do not exceed your vocal range and avoid forcing yourself to sing songs outside your range, such as those that are too high or too low.
18. When your voice is unwell, speaking less and resting more is the best method.
19. In cold weather, protect your neck with a scarf.
20. If symptoms persist for more than two weeks, see a doctor as soon as possible. Unexplained hoarseness should also prompt immediate medical attention.

Things You Should Not Do for Vocal Cord Care

1. Habitually overuse your voice, such as talking too much, yelling loudly, speaking over long distances, or engaging in lengthy outdoor conversations, yelling at others, or shouting commands.
2. Frequent throat clearing or habitual coughing and forceful phlegm clearing can lead to mucosal congestion over time.
3. Raising your pitch to converse in noisy environments, such as pubs or factories.
4. Habitually whispering or murmuring, as whispering causes vibrations in the anterior two-thirds of the vocal cords, which can be very damaging.
5. During menstrual periods, continue to speak loudly; hormonal changes can lower the voice, making it more susceptible to vocal cord damage.
6. Long-term smoking; tobacco irritates the respiratory tract, dulling the vocal cords and causing chronic inflammation.
7. Frequent consumption of strong alcohol, as this can cause vocal cord congestion, resulting in a lower tone and variations in volume.
8. Consuming irritating foods; spicy foods, coffee, and strong tea can irritate the vocal cords, causing swelling and potential damage.
9. Talking or singing while exercising can make it harder to control your voice due to muscle contractions in the neck.
10. Long phone conversations can lead to unintentional volume increases, causing hoarseness.
11. During anger, yelling loudly or shouting.
12. Eating late at night, especially within three hours before sleeping, can cause acid reflux, affecting vocal production.

How to Prevent Vocal Cord Nodules?

1. Avoid overusing your voice.
2. Limit vocal use during acute laryngitis and menstrual periods.
3. Correct incorrect pronunciation habits.
4. Practice chewing exercises to relieve tension in the vocal cords and throat muscles.

Voice Care Remedies

For daily care, you can use the following herbal remedies instead of tea:

• 2 pieces of black plum, 2 big fat seas, soak and consume.
• 12 grams of Scrophularia, 10 grams of Acorus, 6 grams of Cicada slough, decoct and drink as tea.
• 10 grams of Heshouwu, 10 grams of rock candy, and stew with water.

Voice Health Tips

1. Avoid speaking loudly and whispering.
2. Avoid clearing your throat excessively.
3. Avoid using falsetto.
4. When feeling tightness in the throat or using vocal fry, it indicates that the throat needs rest.
5. Drink warm water or gargle to keep your mouth and throat moist.
6. Engage in moderate outdoor exercise.
7. Avoid cold drinks immediately after a speech (after speaking for an extended period).
8. Avoid irritating foods.
9. Ensure sufficient sleep.

Tips for KTV Fun

1. Before singing, have throat-opening tea. Ingredients: 10g goji berries + 5g chrysanthemum + appropriate amount of rock candy + 300-500cc water.
2. During singing, have bright-voice tea. Ingredients: 10g Codonopsis + 10g Ophiopogon + 2g Schisandra + 300-500cc water.
3. After singing, have vocal care tea. Ingredients: 1 loquat + 1 big fat sea + 25g rock candy.

Foods That Protect Vocal Cords! Five Effective Foods

1. Loquat
2. Fat sea
3. Fig
4. Starfruit
5. Olive

Foods That Stimulate Vocal Cords! Five Foods That Cause Voice Loss

1. Garlic
2. Chili
3. Ginger
4. Curry
5. Lychee, Longan

That’s all for Teacher Mantou’s explanation of the “Voice Health Principles.” If you have any questions about this class, feel free to ask on the Knowledge Academy's LINE or Facebook. Teacher Mantou loves questions from students and will definitely answer them carefully!

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