Common Vocal Health Issues
“We’ve seen so many artists having problems and it doesn’t matter what genre they’re in. What we’re finding is that a lot of artists are having issues with vocal hemorrhages,” explains Ashaala. “A vocal hemorrhage is when you overuse the voice by straining excessively or making other poor choices. As a result, a blood vessel forms on the vocal fold and can pop. When it pops, blood can go into the trachea and cause the vocal folds to deflate.”
“Another vocal health issue is a nodule. A vocal nodule can develop just from yelling and a polyp can develop because of smoking. A lot of these things occur with recording artists that use alcohol or smoke narcotics or illegal drugs. Most artists will not let their fanbase or their team members who represent them know that they’re having vocal health issues because that affects touring, shows and recordings.”
“Also, in my office I see a lot of vocal nodules caused by acid reflux. Most of the time, people aren’t watching what they’re eating and they’re drinking lots of soda and water with high acid levels. Artists consume so many things while they’re touring, traveling or even in their green room, and eventually these things bring about vocal nodules. If you don’t know how to take care of vocal nodules, depending on what it is, then you would have to get surgery, which can take up to a year for recovery time. Most people don’t have that time to recover, especially when they are under a rigorous schedule with a record label with their team or whomever is managing them in the industry.”
Preventative Methods
“Anyone using their vocal folds for career advancement needs to see an Ear, Nose & Throat doctor. It’s not for surgery purposes, but to see if the doctor can get a screenshot of your vocal folds and see what’s happening there. Most people don’t know this, but your vocal folds have no nerve ending and because there’s no nerve ending, a lot of times people ignore signs of hoarseness. When you ignore signs of hoarseness, after a while you can develop soft nodules on your vocal folds and most people are not even aware of it.”
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Another preventative method that Ashaala recommends is getting a pH test done. “You can get one from Walmart or your local pharmacy and find out what your acid levels are. The stomach itself has a pH level of 3.5 which is super acidic because it helps with the breakdown of food. The average person has a blood pH of 7.4, so anything 4.6 and under is super acidic. Drink more alkaline-based water. Until you know what your PH level is, limit your intake of citrus fruits. A lot of singers put lemon in their water, but it adds insult to injury because they really don’t know what their pH balance is.”
She also recommends keeping your stress levels down. “Stress directly affects your vocal folds and people don’t even correlate that. Also, make sure you get adequate amounts of sleep and hydration. Vocal dehydration is another big issue we find in a lot of singers.”
“Vocal health issues are not an indicator of a how well a person can sing or how talented they are. It really is about having sustainability throughout your career and making sure you maintain what you have so you can have longevity.”
