|
You go to the doctor because you have a blister on your arm. "How do I get this to go away?" you ask as you rub furiously on the blister. He says "Why don't you stop rubbing it?" You say: "Duh. Why didn't I think of that?" Vocal nodules are little blisters which grow on the vocal cords when you rub them too much. So how do you rub the vocal cords? (You can't get your hand in there) Every time you strain to hit high notes, or force too much volume, or growl excessively, or sing too far down in your throat (the Yogi Bear or Rocky Balboa sound)...or otherwise abuse your voice by incorrect singing, you are forming, rubbing and irritating the blisters. Let''s start by setting your mind at ease. Nodules (nodes) and polyps on the vocal cords are not some sort of death sentence for a singing career. Way too much false information and rumors are bouncing around scaring singers into either quitting singing altogether or having unneeded surgery. Let's look at the actual facts, and hopfully set your mind at ease if you have been diagnosed with vocal cord nodules or other growths. If you experience hoarseness for a period of two weeks or more get your vocal cords checked by a specialist. Prolonged hoarseness is a sign of nodules growing on your cords. The problem could be something else, but either way you need a checkup. Many doctors are all too anxious to remove your little blisters (nodules) by surgery, when that usually doesn't have to be done at all. (Get a second opinion) So what do you do when your doctor tells you you have nodules? Stop rubbing them and they will go away. It takes a whole lot of wrong singing to "rub" your nodule so much that it requires surgery. A blister has to calcify before it requires surgery to remove it. Calcification takes time, and a whole lot of "rubbing". So what do you do? First, stop singing for a while to let the swelling go down. This doesn't take long. When your hoarseness goes away your nodule is probably going down. Then find a good singing teacher. Often doctors will recommend your seeing a speech therapist, but a qualified singing teacher can usually achieve the same results at much less cost. The thing is, you have been "rubbing" a blister or two on your vocal cords, and you must stop doing that by building new habits. Correct breathing techniques, practice in thinning the sound as you move higher, learning to support the sound with other muscles, getting your sound out of the throat and into the mouth and head; these are all things which can be learned from a good singing teacher.
Al Koehn has spent over 30 years working with top professionals in all aspects of their careers; voice development, performance, recording, producing and managing. His powerful new FREE ebook called "SINGING IS SERIOUSLY SIMPLE: Important Tips, Tools and Techniques for All Singers" is now available for downloading.
Access the Ebook FREE here http://vocalvision.com/ad1.html
|
