Your voice and its health (1)
Health & Fitness By KEMI ILORI
What is in a voice? It has been stated that “sounding good is as important
as looking good.” Whether you’re a young or mature person, whether
you use your voice professionally or not, your voice plays a vital role in the
way others perceive you. In our society, a deep voice can convey strength and
authority whereas a weak voice may suggest a lack of self-confidence. The voice
has many qualities which can convey more than the words that are being spoken.
This brings to mind the adage, “it is not what you say, but how you say
it”. We usually can adjust the tone of our voice to convey a message or
our emotions. You can say “yes” with a tone that makes the recipient
know that you mean “no” or “Please don’t” when
you mean “Please do”.
Voice and Age: Imagine if a man’s voice does not break. Puberty is the
stage in life when a boy’s body develops and the voice deepens several
octaves. This is when he begins to sound like a man. Our bodies change as we
age and subsequently, so can our voices. The voice can also be used to evaluate
a person’s state of health. When people are ill, especially for a long
time, the voice can begin to sound weak, hoarse, raspy or even fade.
How is voice produced? Voice is produced by vibration of the vocal folds. The
vocal folds are two bands of smooth muscle tissue that lie opposite each other.
They are located in the larynx or voice box. The larynx is positioned between
the base of the tongue and the top of the trachea (windpipe), the passageway
to the lungs.
You can actually feel these structures with your hands by touching the front
of your neck where it joins your head. When at rest, the vocal folds are open
to allow an individual to breathe. To produce voice, the brain precisely coordinates
a series of events. First, the folds come together in a firm but relaxed way.
Once the folds are closed, air from the lungs passes through them, causing vibration
and thus making sound. The sound from this vibration then travels through the
throat, nose, and mouth (resonating cavities). The size and shape of these cavities,
along with the size and shape of the vocal folds, help to determine voice quality.
Some people can alter their voice if they want to, e.g. to disguise when talking
to someone on the phone.
Variety within an individual voice is the result of lengthening or shortening,
tensing or relaxing the vocal folds. Moving the cartilages, or soft, flexible
bone-like tissues to which the folds are attached, makes these adjustments possible.
For example, shortening and relaxing the vocal folds makes a deep voice or lengthening
and tensing them produces a high-pitched voice.
Taking care of your voice: Like with other things, you can either abuse or mis-use
your voice. Taking care of the voice is particularly important for performing
musicians and such other people who depend on it for their livelihood. Vocal
abuse is any behavior or occurrence that strains or injures the vocal folds
(or vocal cords). This may include excessive talking, throat clearing, coughing,
inhaling irritants, smoking, screaming, or yelling. Vocal misuse is improper
voice usage such as speaking too loudly or at an abnormally high or low pitch.
You may find out that after a shouting match or argument; you feel the strain
on your vocal cords. Frequent vocal abuse and misuse can damage the vocal folds
and cause temporary or permanent changes in vocal function, voice quality, and
possible loss of voice. The first signs of a problem with a person’s voice
are;
Hoarse or raspy voice
Feeling rawness, aching or strained in the throat
Talking becomes an effort
Finding that one has to repeatedly clear one’s throat
Sudden deepening of the voice from one’s normal voice
Anyone who experiences vocal change or hoarseness for more than 2 weeks should
be examined by a physician, preferably an otolaryngologist (a physician/surgeon
who specializes in diseases of the ears, nose, throat, and head and neck). While
hoarseness is a common symptom of vocal abuse or misuse, it is also one of the
first signs of cancer of the larynx. A physician's visit is especially important
for people who smoke cigarettes, because smoking is closely associated with
laryngeal cancer. The otolaryngologist will examine the individual's vocal folds
and determine if a medical condition is causing the voice problem.
As part of the voice examination, the otolaryngologist will often look directly
at the vocal folds. This may be done by inserting a tiny mirror into the mouth
to the back of the throat (laryngoscopy). Most disorders of vocal abuse and
misuse are reversible. The best treatment is to identify and eliminate the vocal
behavior that created the voice disorder. In many cases, a brief period of voice
therapy is helpful so that the individual can learn good vocal techniques such
as proper breath support for speech or eliminating forceful voicing. People,
who have the bad habit of forceful voicing or shouting, may risk permanent damage
to their vocal cords in the long run. They would eventually develop a permanent
hoarse or croaky voice.
Voice and sexiness/ attraction: Human sexual attractiveness is governed by the
physical impact on our senses, especially at the onset of a relationship. The
impact is felt through;
Visual Perception‡ How a person looks or acts
Olfaction ‡ A person’s natural smell sends a strong message (I had
written about that). Artificial smells like perfumes may also have an initial
physical impact. The wrong smell may also be a repellant.
Audition ‡ How a person’s voice influences you.
The third one is what makes voice very important, especially in today’s
world of high telephone communication. Men sometimes subconsciously deepen their
voice when they are trying to chat up a lady they want to date. Linda Miller,
the manager of a dating agency said that, “Men with deep voices always
seem to do better, and are much more likely to move beyond the initial stage
of a telephone conversation with their potential date.”
We may begin to wonder if the preference for a deep voice is a primordial animalistic
selection of the most suitable male for procreation. A new study by a Canadian
psychologist concluded that, the deepness of a man’s voice is one of the
most powerful aphrodisiacs. Another Canadian research suggested that a man’s
voice is an indication of his sexual potency. This research even went further
to claim that men with deeper tones produce more children. I am not upholding
these researches, but just citing them to show how much attention is paid to
the link between sexual attraction and voice. The later research was conducted
by David Feinberg, a psychology professor at Mc-Master University in Hamilton,
Ontario, Canada.
The study looked at Tanzania's Hadza tribesmen, one of the world's few remaining
hunter-gatherer societies, because the Hadzas never use birth control, a complicating
factor that makes it impossible to do such research elsewhere in the world.
Previous research has indicated that a deep voice signifies robust genes, in
evolutionary terms. Everybody knows that men find women with a good singing
voice very sexy. A good voice on the phone usually generates a favourable disposition.