0761 – The Voice Enemies Of Air Con, Carphones and Coughing

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2023.01.31 – 0761 – The Voice Enemies Of Air Con, Carphones and Coughing

Air conditioning – a dry throat can be caused by heating or air conditioning in homes, offices, trains, planes and cars. Try getting more natural air into your life, or invest in a humidifier.

Carphones – you tend to talk louder on them as the mic is further from your mouth, because the signal may not be good, you are talking to someone else who is also on a mobile, and to counteract the ambient traffic noise.

Coughing – coughing is a complicated reflex action to clear the airway: inhalation, forceful exhalation against closed vocal cords and then a violent release. A large inhale almost fills the lungs, the glottis at the back of the throat closes and the stomach walls contract. The glottis opens suddenly, with an upward heave of the diaphragm, and air forced out by three different stomach muscles, at the rate of up to 50mph (80km)[1] across your cords. Not nice. So, if you have a tickle, don’t ‘hack’ as that will inflame your vocal cords even more. Simply swallow hard, preferably with some warm water.

Excessive throat-clearing can be down to a dry throat, possibly because of an unrecognised allergy or because you’ve developed a habit of clearing your throat. Banging your very vulnerable vocal cords together is ‘violence against your voice’ causing damage to your delicate throat tissue, and possible development of nodules or polyps.[2]

Instead, retrain your brain to either swallow, lick your lips, or pause for a sip of room-temperature water in place of clearing your throat[3] which has the dual advantage of calming the tickle and keeping you hydrated.

Hoarseness – A rough, husky, croaky voice could be caused by the common cold, a laryngitis infection, chronic laryngitis (repetitive bouts of laryngitis, usually with a fever, and caused by regular voice misuse). It could be cancer, so go to a doctor if you’re still hoarse after two weeks. Continual ‘hoarse talk’ could lead to a swelling of the vocal folds.

Again, a reminder that, although I know that fear is a big delayer, if something hurts, seek advice. You need to fix the underlying problems: not the cough itself but what’s causing the cough.

[1] The American Lung Association: https://www.lung.org/blog/sneeze-versus-cough

[2] A good explanatory leaflet from the British Voice Association can be downloaded here: http://www.britishvoiceassociation.org.uk/downloads/free-voice-care-literature/Difficult%20Vocal%20Problems.pdf

[3] There are simple and complicated medical conditions (such as acid reflux or ‘GERD’, Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease) that may make you more prone to throat clearing, so check with your doctor.

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