‘m a vocal instructor.  A big proponent of healthy vocal technique who’s been standing on the soap box of vocal care for years.  I’m also an avid talker by nature.  Anyone who knows me would give you the big eyed major head nod on that one.  So the irony of this is so not lost on me.  I’ve been on doctor assigned ‘vocal rest’ until Thanksgiving after some bruising of my vocal cords from a recent endoscopy.  But that’s not the source of my vocal damage.

The most common cause of vocal damage is incorrect use of the voice.  For singers, that often means belting, or pulling up your chest voice beyond the point at which it’s meant to mix with the head voice, or potentially even more damaging; overusing falsetto.  For voice talent (those who speak for commercials, etc. which I also do), damage is more often related to overuse when the voice is tired or dehydrated.  But even if you do everything you can to build a strong, healthy voice, there’s still something that can severely, and sometimes permanently damage your voice.  And that’s exactly what I have; acid reflux.

It’s amazing that acid reflux can damage your voice, considering that the voice box, or larynx, is in the wind pipe and the acid comes up the food pipe.  But in some cases, the acid comes all the way up, over the epiglottis (the little wall between the two pipes) and spills acid over onto your delicate vocal cords.  It hurts just thinking about it.

If you have acid reflux, here are some signs it may be time to talk to a GI specialist; a reoccurring hoarseness, a persistent cough or throat irritation, losing your voice for no apparent reason, shortness of breath, or a change in your voice (loss of volume or missing notes for singers or for voice talent, the fluidity of your read becomes stopped at points).

Most acid reflux can be kept in check with dietary changes and/or medications.  But in some cases, like mine, all the drugs and chocolate banning in the world doesn’t slow down the acid machine.  In those cases, surgery is required, followed by a slow healing process for the blisters surrounding the vocal cords.

Thankfully, my doctors says he expects my voice to recover fully from the damage after my scheduled stomach surgery and a few more months of vocal rest.  But I expect to recover much sooner than that.  Because what my doctor isn’t taking into account is the incredible resilience of the well trained voice.  The method of vocal instruction I use, and teach, is proven to actually reverse vocal damage, and it’s my secret weapon.  I just saw the proof for myself!  The two months of ‘no voice’ I was told to expect after my last procedure, turned into only one week thanks to a few vocal exercises with one of my fellow instructors. (Thanks Mr. Hayes!)

Since I make my living with my voice, vocal damage is my kryptonite.  But thanks to solid vocal technique and the knowledge of how to both avoid damage, and heal it if it happens, this will just be a bump in my vocal road.

So, after my surgery and some regular vocal work, soon I’ll have both my voice, and my chocolate back again.