Listen to your voice: Changes could mean danger

For a young or an old person,
the voice is his or her identity.Many people take the sound of their voices for granted, forgetting that without a good voice, they cannot function effectively either at work or at home. Experts, indeed, have warned that a change in a person’s voice should not be overlooked, as it could be the first sign of several health problems affecting the body, ranging from cold, stress to even cancer. Sade Oguntola reports.

Have you ever heard someone say,“I lost my voice”? Or maybe you woke up one morning and your voice sounded funny when you tried to talk. Maybe when you tried to speak, only some of the words came out after your last outing with your old friends back in the clubhouse. Many people take their voices for granted. When they notice hoarseness; loss of vocal range; loss of volume or ability to project loudly, they hardly do any thing unlike people whose careers revolve around speaking, such as teachers, clergymen and receptionists. They cannot afford to have untreated voice problems because that will greatly affect their work negatively.

It’s important to take voice symptoms seriously. Quite unlike what many may think, a voice problem like hoarseness; loss of vocal range; loss of volume or ability to project a loud voice could even be a tell tale of a problem.

In fact, some voice problems are due to something as serious as cancer and so should never be ignored, particularly if they persist for a period of time or progressively get worse. Voice is the sound made when the vocal cords vibrate due to the passage of air through the larynx. The sound made by the cords is amplified and shaped when it passes through the nose and mouth. Common symptoms of a voice problem include hoarseness or raspy-sounding speech; making extra effort to talk or sing; and loss of ability to hit high notes when singing. The importance of this even made voice specialists designate a day in April as World Voice Day to bring attention to the many voice problems that can occur, and ways to prevent them. This is because people need to be aware that a voice change could signal an health problem.

This was corrobated by Dr. Norman D. Hogikyan, in a release from the University of Michigan, that said it is important to take voice symptoms seriously. He said such symptoms like hoarseness that gets worse over time; loss of vocal range, especially the upper “notes” of the voice; loss of volume or ability to project a loud voice; and loss of endurance, causing the voice to die out over the course of a day, should not be ignored.

Aside the fact that people who smoke are especially at risk of cancer of the “voice box” or larynx, the associate professor of otolaryngology – head and neck surgery at the U-M Medical School and associate professor at the U-M School of Music said even a change in voice could be one of the signs of cancer of the voice box too. Occupational voice users and just plain talkative people, can develop vocal problems related to the strain they put on their vocal cords, which doctors call vocal folds. For instance, benign (non-cancerous) nodules that form on the vocal folds can cause hoarseness and limitation of the vocal range because of abnormal vocal cord vibration.

Experts also say that voice problems can stem from problems with the muscles and nerves that control the movement of the vocal cords. One of such is spasmodic dysphonia, in which the voice cuts out, or is uncontrollable, because of spasms of the vocal cords. Dr. Diran Olabisi, an otolaryngology at the Highland Specialist Hospital, Ibadan said a problem could arise with the vocal cord, say from its overuse after a social party, resulting to the cord becoming swollen and producing a husky sound. He added that colds and other infections could cause hoarseness or weakened voice just as over-zealous sports fans also risk losing their voice temporarily from attempts at cheering their team when playing. Some voice problems, he said, are due to weakness of the vocal cord, when the nerve supplying it becomes weak after surgery or an illness.

Dr. Olabisi said change in voice is easy to pick, explaining, “if someone you know very well is talking with you on phone or from a distance, if such is sounding odd, you will definitely know that something is wrong with his or her voice. In some cases, with the look such a person wears, you may be able to guess if the person is sick.” He mentioned that a case where an individual is attacked by armed robbers and made too drink acid or the person’s throat is held too tight for a long time could jeopardize the person’s voice because the voice box would have been injured.

According to Dr Olabisi, “from the voice of an individual, the state of the person’s health can be determined. In the case of the cancer of the voice box, someone even said this is the best cancer to have because it can be diagnosed when still very small and cured using radiotherapy unlike other cases of cancer in other parts of the body.” He declared that in a way it is possible to use the changes in the voice of an individual to predict that something is going wrong in the body. His advise on regaining one’s voice back includes, resting the voice for one to two days and treating infections like cold with medications while finding time to rest. However, not every voice problem is preventable, but many are. Some tips you can take to protect your voice includes:

• Stop smoking and/or drinking heavily. These will reduce the irritation of the voice box that can cause hoarseness or long-term voice changes.

• Avoid screaming or shouting. If you feel like your throat is dry, tired, or your voice is becoming hoarse, stop talking.

•Do not clear your throat regularly. If you feel you have to, there may be an underlying problem.

•Drink lots of water and caffeine-free non-alcoholic beverages.

•Warm up your voice, just like athletes warm up their muscles. If you’ll be teaching a class, leading a meeting, or giving a speech, take a few moments before hand to get your voice ready.

•If you can, use amplification for public speaking. That way, you can use a conversational volume and still reach the people who need to hear you, while avoiding strain on your voice box.

•If your voice does not return to its normal state within two to four weeks after a cold, seek a medical evaluation by an ear, nose and throat specialist. A throat examination after a change in the voice lasting longer than one month is especially important for smokers.

*Note the medications you take as some can affect the voice by drying out the mucous membrane of the vocal folds or by causing fluid to build up in the vocal folds. Others can cause hoarseness. Such medications include anti-depressants, birth control pills, allergy and asthma medications and diuretics (“water pills”) for blood pressure.