#LARYNGITIS BUT NOT SICK PROFESSIONAL#

Six months, the opposite hip is having a problem,' says Michael. 'What happens then is that the vocal technique can start to morph, in the same way that somebody who sprains their ankle and is limping for a long time, can actually long-term consequences in their gait. 'If you are pushing through to reach those high notes, your muscles are working so much harder than they're supposed to or in a much more imbalanced way,' says Michael.

#LARYNGITIS BUT NOT SICK PROFESSIONAL#

Professional singers are most at risk, but it is probably something for even casual singers to avoid. Singing while suffering from laryngitis can as a result cause long-term damage to your voice and, in some cases, serious medical problems.

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Professional opera singers, for example, report struggling to control note in the middle and lower regions of their vocal range when their vocal chords became fatigued. Often the first sign your vocal cords might be struggling is when your voice feels hoarse. 'For that reason pain is often a later sign, which follows effort and fatigue,' she says. Unlike other muscles, the vocal folds don't have pain receptors, explains Stephanie Misono, head of laryngology and director of the voice clinic at the University of Minnesota medical school. She stresses laryngitis isn't always painful and that singers shouldn't wait for pain or discomfort to set in before choosing to rest their voice. 'If the vocal cords are inflamed, you want to try to avoid too much in the way of vocal exertion,' says Costello.Īmong the warning signs indicating that you might have laryngitis are primarily vocal fatigue and if it takes a lot of effort to sing, or speak, says Deirde Michael, assistant professor in the department of otolaryngology at the University of Minnesota Medical School, who helps return injured singers to the stage. Singers are generally advised to rest their voice and avoid performing when suffering from this. Symptoms include hoarseness, a sore throat and an irritating cough. ( Learn more about how diseases can spread when you sing.)Ĭommon viral infections, such as a cold or flu, can sometimes lead to a condition known as laryngitis – inflammation of the voice box, which causes swollen vocal folds (or vocal cords). 'If you've got a stuffed-up nose, it might feel very different to the singer, but it tends to not make a huge amount of difference to the audience's perception of the voice.' If you're not a professional performer, however, you might want to skip your choir rehearsal to avoid spreading the virus to fellow singers. He ended up singing a huge solo at the Proms.'īlocked sinuses or a sore throat are also unlikely to affect your singing ability, says Costello.

'He was feeling rubbish and had big white spots at the back of his throat, but his voice was actually working fine as it was the upper part of his throat that was affected. 'I saw a singer a few months ago who had bacterial tonsillitis,' he says. If you have a nasal cold which is affecting your sinuses or an upper throat infection, you are usually fine to keep singing, says Declan Costello, a consultant laryngologist who specialises in treating voice disorders at Wexham Park Hospital, in Slough in the UK. But how true is this? How does singing with a cold impact your voice? And how do you help your voice heal if it's recovering from illness?

It is accepted wisdom in many circles, that if you are suffering from a cold, it's best not to sing at all. As the choir joins in to warm up our voices, I imagine my vocal cords vibrating up to 2,000 times per second, deep within my larynx.Īfter suffering from flu and losing my voice completely over Christmas, I was hesitant about attending my first choir rehearsal. I'm listening to the director of my London choir demonstrate a singing scale, starting with a low humming noise before opening his mouth fully to produce a resonant 'aah' sound.

Laryngitis but not sick