Communication.
We take for granted that as humans, we rely on the exchange of the spoken word and self-expression.
Many of us depend upon our voices to sustain our livelihood.
What happens when we cannot speak clearly and project our voice — as a result of hoarseness, neck pain, rough/scratchy voice, altered tone, or a sensation of something in the throat requiring repeated coughing or clearing?
Laryngitis and Vocal Cord Nodes can be devastating for all who rely upon their Vocal Instrument to earn a living.
Who Is Impacted
YouTube Creators, Singers, Podcasters, Public Speakers, Actors, Fitness and Yoga Instructors, Spiritual Advisors, Teachers, Authors, Television Personalities, News Reporters, Weather Meteorologists, Therapists — and basic Sales in Small Business — all of which hangs in the balance when there is Inflammation and Irritation of the vocal cords.
A “rough voice” can be difficult to listen to and understand clearly.
It is not like weight conditioning where you must push-through the fatigue, or in Professional Sports, where playing through pain is common and healing through the off-season is an option.
When it comes to speech and singing through Inflammation and Raw Irritation (including Vocal Cord Nodules, Polyps, and Cysts), Chronic Laryngitis and development of Nodes can seriously damage a vital function of elasticity and integrity. Scar tissue or thickening can form on chronically inflamed vocal cords. Fortunately, we do have options to Integrative support.
TAMI BRONSTEIN, Medical Herbalist-Physiologist https://medherbalist.com
Today’s Daybook Reflection: Artist On Tour
Recently, I was parsing through old paperwork, and rediscovered a request from the Tour Manager of an Artist on-tour with his band.
They were completing their US show dates with plans for Europe on the next leg of the tour.
This particular artist had been diagnosed with a Vocal Cord Cyst (described as a “blister”) on one of his vocal cords, and they needed to do everything possible to heal the rawness, avoid canceling the tour, with hopes to avoid medications that can compromise hormonal balance and cause thinning of the cords in general.
While the condition was not worsening — and regularly monitored by doctors with scoping — touring can be a grueling marathon for anyone in the Music Business when it comes to General Fatigue, strain on the Adrenals, and persistent demands upon the Nervous System to “be on” at any moment. All of this on top of the need to sing and speak — loudly.
We can all relate to periods of demands upon our time, emotions, and schedules. It is not exclusive to A-list Musicians! This is Life itself.
In this particular situation, we approached it from a variety of angles.
Topical:
- Gently gargling a soothing solution
- Soothing and hydrating teas (taken internally, with its effects primarily in making contact with irritated local tissues)
- Honey
- Throat lozenges
- NOTE: For Professionals who sustain unrelenting demands upon their voices to perform and communicate, topical applications are often not enough to fully resolve Inflammation, Fatigue, and heal the tissues.
Internal:
In this case, we added a custom blended fluid extract taken daily – internally – to address the Inflammation and Irritation as a result of lifestyle and work/life demands.
Layered on top of daily performances, media interviews, meet-and-greet events, and constant travel, this Individual also had GERD (Chronic Gastro-esophageal Acid Reflux) — More on that in a bit, but in short, we had to address ALL contributing factors at the source of vocal irritation.
We considered each additional personal medical history factor for the Individual, because simply throwing “adrenal boost” at an already depleted system could actually make the condition worse.
Why? In simple terms: We cannot expect to run a vehicle on an empty fuel tank.
Energy drinks added on top of it all may create the short term sense of energy, but they act to keep a negative spiral in motion. At some point, the body no longer responds favourably.
Rationale: Stimulating depleted adrenals to pump out more Cortisol and Adrenaline that has already been overextended forces the body to make hormonal adaptations that feed into Hormone Imbalance, Immune Dysfunction, and perpetuate the cycle of Inflammation. Adrenal Depletion means that those “energy funds” are not available for use, so stimulation deepens the ongoing imbalance!
More Than One Source of Irritation (as mentioned earlier)
- Digestive: Vocal Inflammation can be a side effect of Digestive issues, such as Chronic Gastro-esophageal Acid Reflux (GERD) — which can cause inflammation as stomach acid travels up the esophagus and into the throat. Gastric acid from the stomach is highly corrosive and contributes to persistent inflammation. In the case of this touring musician, Acid Reflux had been a longstanding digestive struggle. Without addressing it, we would have been ineffective at fully resolving the Laryngitis and Vocal Node. NOTE: Elevation with pillows and/or folded blankets during sleep helped to keep stomach acids from traveling up to the throat, so that all efforts to heal the vocal cords could have a chance at success.
- Respiratory: Chronic Allergies and Sinusitis can also contribute with Post Nasal Drip of mucous and Histamine production, and the constant throat-clearing irritation. Anti-histamines and Decongestants can dry-out the mouth and throat — so we must evaluate a bigger view of the Individual’s current and past history to consider factors beyond overuse of the voice.
