[HANASHIR:1584] Re: Vocal testing

[Carol Leon <cbleon...>]

Yes, Karen, I've had similar procedures done a few times, although it 
wasn't a metal tube down the throat.  Instead, it was a thin, flexible 
scope up the nose and then down the throat without the tongue-holding 
gauze, or just the gauze and a little mirror like a dentist uses without 
the scope.  The scope is still very uncomfortable because you keep 
trying to swallow it down but it won't go away.  I had successful vocal 
chord surgery twice to regain my voice but haven't had a problem in 
recent years.

I tried speaking lessons for a short while to avoid a recurrence, but 
they didn't seem to help much and the therapist didn't know anything 
about singers; maybe you could find a therapist who is more 
knowledgable.  But I have found singing lessons to be very useful.  I 
can sing for hours now without getting hoarse, as long as I sing right 
-- which means high enough and without forcing.  It's only when I forget 
and fall back into old habits that I risk losing my voice, or when I 
talk too much, especially in a noisy setting.  Whenever I start to lose 
it, say, from a cold, I turn to vocal rest.  It really works. Also, I 
always use a microphone, as I teach music absolutely all the time, and 
often in noisy settings with young children.  My wireless (headset) 
microphone is what lets me use my voice so much without losing it.  Good 
luck!  -- Carol


>From: DurlKare (at) aol(dot)com
>Date: Mon, 26 Oct 1998 21:57:26 EST
>To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
>Subject: [HANASHIR:1581] Vocal testing
>Reply-To: hanashir (at) shamash(dot)org
>
>Ever since Hava Nashira, after which I got hoarse for over a month, I 
have had
>a hard time singing for a long time without getting a little hoarse.  I
>FINALLY dragged myself to the doctor, actually, the Vanderbilt Voice 
Clinic.
>Have any of you actually gone through that 
amazingly...intrusive...test?  They
>actually stick a metal tube down your throat while you sing "eeee" in
>different notes, while smiling, and while they hold onto your tongue 
with a
>gauze bandage, and all this while you are wide awake.  They tried to 
spray my
>throat numb so I would stop gagging since I was the one person in ten 
who
>really has difficulty with this test, but all that happened was that I
>couldn't swallow and gagged more and more... the voice person continued
>torturing me until FINALLY after about an hour and a half of trying, 
she got a
>doctor to do it, and then it WORKED.  They were terribly certain that 
there
>would be some problem, but lo and behold, my vocal chords turned up 
clean as a
>whistle, and I was given a PHOTO of the lovely...view!
>
>Phew!  Then I got the same advice all of you on the list had given me: 
drink
>lots of water, don't use menthol stuff, and also, that my asthma 
inhalers can
>cause hoarseness.  Hmmmmph!  I wonder if any of you have had similar
>experiences, or if you have gone ahead with the next step, recommended 
by this
>clinic (which has  helped countless country music stars with their 
voices, by
>the way...the walls are plastered with signed photos and gold records):
>learning how to sing AND TALK properly!  I evidently speak with much 
too low a
>voice (for a woman).
>
>Sorry, way too long a message!  At least THIS method of communicating 
doesn't
>wear out my voice.
>-Karen
>


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