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Vocal Hygiene Tips

  1. WATER:
  • 8-10 glasses a day or take your total body weight and divide it in half and that is the number of ounces of water that you need everyday
  • Hydrated when urine is pale in color
  • Drink continuously throughout the day not all at once
  1. DECREASE DRYING AGENTS:
  • Caffeine: sodas, tea, coffee, chocolate, no-doze, diet pills
  • Antihistamines: Allegra, Clarinex, Zyrtec, Sudafed,-take only when needed
  • Alcohol: beer, wine, liquor
  • Extreme Temperature: Very Hot very Cold Air
  • -Use a Cool mist humidifier at night near the head of the bed
  • Uncooked Dairy Products: Cream, ice cream, milk, yogurt
  • -Avoid prior to performance
  1. AIRBORNE IRRITANTS: Avoid…
  • Smoke/ Second hand smoke
  • Chemicals
  • Painting
  • Cleaning
  1. SMOKING:
  • QUIT!!!!!
  • Don’t Start!!!!!
  1. Glycerin Cough Drops/Lozenges
  • Use these to Moisturize your mouth/throat in place of cough drops.
  • Glycerin based will thin secretions – Luden’s Cherry
  • No MENTHOL cough drops!

VOCAL ABUSE:

These are behaviors that use too much force and slam the vocal cords together causing and perpetuating injury to the delicate tissues or mucosa of the vocal cords.

THINGS TO AVOID DOING:

  • Yelling/Shouting
  • Harsh Crying
  • Loud Laughing
  • Loud Talking- wear one or two ear plugs to help you decrease the volume
  • Long talking – over an hour
  • Speaking when Sick – Laryngitis or Upper Respiratory Infection – BE QUIET during these times as much as possible

 Excessive Throat Clearing: Eliminate

  1. Make someone the “Throat Clearing Police” to increase your AWARENESS of the behavior.
  2. Take a sip of water with your chin down to chest and swallow hard.
  3. Blow quick “h” sounds gently and swallow hard.
  4. If you start to clear your throat immediately take a sip of water.
  5. Carry water with you at all times.

VOCAL MISUSE:

VOICE PACING:

  • 30/10 rule: If talking for 30 minutes try to be absolutely quiet for 10 minutes. This is a guideline. You may need a 10/10 rule if voice is really bad. Adjust as necessary
  • Have structured voice breaks; Time yourself if necessary
  • Delete all unnecessary talking
  • Focus your voice by looking at your listener face to face and sitting/standing within touching distance of the listener

PHONE:

  • Head placement should be in an upright position
  • Limit your number of calls
  • Spread calls out throughout the day
  • Use caller ID or voice mail to screen un-needed/un-wanted calls
  • Delegate phone use to others if possible
  • Use email or texting as much as possible for communication

BACKGROUND NOISE:

  • Do NOT compete with background noise

(Home Environment i.e. kids, dishwasher, radio, TV, lawn mower Work Environment i.e. computer, lights, cell phones, Social Environment i.e. restaurants, parties, bars, performances)

Questions? Call UMMC Speech-Language Pathology 601-815-6064.

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