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Shout it out

Why do I become hoarse if I shout? And how does my voice recover?

Bryan Gilmour, Aberdeen, UK

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Categories: Human Body.

Tags: throat, voice, hoarse, recover.

 

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Jon-Richfield says:

People with trained voices, such as singers and actors often can produce amazing volumes of sound with out much effort and with very little harm or discomfort to their throats.

Roughly speaking the principle that they rely on, is to form one's mouth and throat from the larynx upwards, into an exponential horn, which is the most efficient shape for sound production. Suitably coupled into the vibration of air, a derisory amount of energy can produce a formidable volume of sound. Lesser mortals such as ourselves, produce louder sounds by brute force rather than technique. We force air more violently between our vocal chords, thereby hurting them. They react largely by coating themselves with more and gummier protective mucus, and by oedema, liquid seeping into their issue and making them swell./Both of these effects interfere with their proper, efficient vibration and their closing and opening in the proper way.

In part the result is hoarseness.

If you give your throat a rest and you are lucky enough to escape bacterial infection in the damaged tissues of your abused vocal chords, then a little rest, perhaps a day or two, will give the tissues time to recover.

If you persist in such abuse, then if you do not do yourself a permanent injury, your vocal chords will very likely become calloused and you will stop becoming hoarse, but if you are in a profession that demands continual shouting, I strongly recommend that you try a course of voice training from a professional. Apart from escaping injury, you will be able to annoy more people with less effort.

 

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posted on 2010-10-06 16:51:14 | Report abuse


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Moderator says:

Shouting injures the vocal cords mechanically as it requires a large volume of air to pass at high velocity through the windpipe from the lungs. The injury is in the form of inflammation and swelling of the mucous membrane of the vocal cords. This causes the voice to become hoarse. Vocal rest for a few days will allow recovery as the inflammation subsides.

Kameshawar Rao Matcha, London, UK

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posted on 2011-09-14 13:17:09 | Report abuse


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