“If I cannot fly, let me sing.” - Stephen Sondheim
Singers know that losing their voice, inflammation of the throat or larynx, chronic laryngitis, hoarseness, coughing, or a sore throat can all be terrible for their singing. Furthermore, women are almost twice as likely to suffer from vocal problems than men. Of course, singing teachers and professional singers are more at risk, too. In this article, we're going to look at the risks of singing in terms of your vocal health, how to take care of your voice, techniques to train your voice, and why you should consider seeing an ENT specialist or speech-language pathologist. Search for singing lessons London here.
Singing: What Are the Risks?
Using your voice excessively can damage your vocal cords, pharynx, and larynx. 
- Lifestyle: smoking, coffee, alcohol, drugs, lack of sleep, stress, poor breathing, bad posture, dehydration, etc.
- Temperature changes: you can avoid these with a scarf, honeyed soup, eucalyptus pastels, essential oils, etc.
- Excessive consumption of antibiotics and medicinal products.
- Allergies related to pollution or pollen.
- Asthma attacks.
- Respiratory problems (lung disease, bronchitis, a bacterial infection in the lungs, etc).
- Gastroesophageal reflux
- Swelling of the throat
The hectic lifestyle of singers can also result in voice problems, aphonia, dysphonia; tours, interviews, and a lack of rest can put the singer in a vicious cycle. Find out more about how to avoid vocal cord injury.
10 Tips to Take Care of Your Voice
So how can you take care of your voice as a singer? Here are ten tips to look after your voice. It’s recommended that you warm up your voice before you sing. This is a way to prepare your voice before a concert, for example.
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- Quit smoking: smokers run the risk of fatal diseases (lung cancer, throat cancer, etc.)
- Rest your voice to reduce tension in the muscles in the respiratory system and throat.
- Avoid chills.
- Stop talking: silence is one of the best ways to rest and care for your voice.
- Don’t sing when your throat is sore or inflamed: sore throats, viral infections, allergies, etc.
- Consult an ENT specialist or speech pathologist if your symptoms last over a week.
In the event of benign inflammations, surgical intervention may be required. In some situations, more serious medical intervention may be necessary. Check out our tips for looking after your voice.
Singing: How to Retrain your Voice
Singers, singing teachers, and just teachers might benefit from retraining their voice, especially in the case of hoarseness or laryngitis. Learn from singing lessons Melbourne here. 
- Voiced fricatives: such as the sound of the letter “V” across your vocal range, contracting your abs as you breathe out, and releasing tension as you breathe in.
- “M” exercise: Say “M” while holding the note and feeling the vibrations about your nose, then say “E” (behind the teeth) and then “ooh” (lips).
Unfortunately, these exercises can’t fix everything and there may be something more serious going on in your throat. Find out more about looking after your voice.
Singing: Why Should You Consult a Speech Pathologist?
If you have problems with your voice for over a week, you should consult a speech pathologist. Find more singing lessons here on Superprof. 
- Vocal fatigue
- Voice loss
- Vocal fold paralysis
- Vocal cord alteration
- Chronic coughing
- Broken voice
- Allergic reaction
- Difficulty producing high notes
- Swelling in the throat
- Laryngeal pain
The doctor may consider a laryngoscopy to have a look at the state of your throat and vocal cords. This involves placing a light on their forehead and inserting a mirror into the back of the throat. For minor issues, rest may be all that’s needed. They might advise other natural remedies like herbal tea, etc. In the case of more serious conditions, such as a nodule or polyps, you may need surgery. Keep in mind, that you don’t need to be unwell to visit a pathologist. Singers might want to go to get advice on techniques to keep their vocal cords in good condition. It’s important to look after your voice, after all. If you want to work on your voice and improve your singing, you might want to consider getting a vocal coach or private tutor on Superprof. They can help you improve your singing, take care of your voice, and provide bespoke singing tuition. There are three main types of tutorials on offer and each one comes with several advantages and disadvantages. Face-to-face private tutorials are just between you and your tutor. The sessions will be tailored to you, your needs, and your strengths and weaknesses. Of course, since the tutor will be dedicating a lot of time to you and your tutorials as well as tailoring them to your needs, this type of tutorial tends to be the most costly. However, it's also the most cost-effective. Thanks to the internet, webcams, and video conferencing software, you can also get online tutorials. Again, these tutorials are just between you and the tutor with the main difference being that you're not in the same room. With fewer travel expenses and the ability to schedule more tutorials each week, the tutor can charge a more competitive rate for these tutorials. Generally, these tutorials are better for academic subjects and not hands-on ones. Finally, there are group tutorials. These are more like your traditional classes with several students and one teacher. The cost of the tutor's time is shared between all the students in the class so you can expect to pay less per hour for these tutorials. Unfortunately, this means the tutor can't spend as much time focusing on you and your singing. Find more singing lessons Sydney here on Superprof.
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