Physical effects of singing
Like professional athletes, singers are subject to minor injuries as well as severe damage to the vocal cords. For every singer, there are moments when the strain is too much. The voice should be considered part of the body. When the body doesn’t feel well, the voice reacts to that. And just like professional sports, there are many situations where the singer has to perform even when the voice doesn’t want to cooperate. And it’s this kind of strain that leads to injury.
Emergency assistance
Emergency assistance can make all the difference for singers and speakers who have difficulty with their vocal techniques or have voice problems during a production, tour or studio recording. With emergency assistance, your voice can function as normal with recovery often achieved within a couple of hours.
It is first necessary to visit your E.N.T. specialist. If there is permanent damage to the vocal cords (such as a cyst, polyp or vocal cord nodules), the best solution is usually vocal cord surgery. Inge collaborates with Marco Franken, E.N.T. specialist and phoniatrician at the Diaconessenhuis in Voorburg, NL.
When can someone use emergency assistance?
Emergency assistance is most commonly needed with immediate voice problems, such as hoarseness or pain. With persistent vocal problems, assistance can also help recenter the voice.
Recovery after surgery
Constructive recovery after surgery is important for good rehabilitation of the voice. It is important to monitor this process and map the progress. This gives the singer a good understanding of what is and isn’t possible; the singer can continue to work with these new insights.
For many recovering singers, CVT is a better solution than speech therapy. The reason is that the singing voice behaves differently than the speaking voice. So speech therapy focuses on the speaking voice, while CVT targets the singing voice.
Together with E.N.T. specialist Marco Franken, Inge gives lectures at various locations in the Netherlands (see Agenda). The target audience is often medical students. The goal of these lectures is to give greater insight into the artistic business, to clarify various aspects of the singing profession, and to highlight new insights to medical solutions.
Lecture: the arts and the arts