Vocal Health Tips For Auditioneess!!!

<p>Thanks for the info... If she decides to do this, shouldn't she wait until after her auditions? She also has a musical in March, so not sure how long the recovery is until she can sing again... Any thoughts?</p>

<p>Full medical recovery time (per my experience and my ENT) is between 2 weeks and a month. I'd suggest waiting until she's got that much time for two reasons. First, she's going to be very congested for about 2 weeks after having it done and so will likely not sleep well during that time. Secondly, though I was perfectly fine to sing during the recovery time, the congestion definitely got in the way, and it took me 6-8 weeks after the surgery to both recover and get used to the new resonance enough to use it to my advantage. I'd say it's better to go into auditions and her show feeling confident and consistent rather than worrying about a condition that is beyond her control.</p>

<p>Thanks! I agree- if she decides to do this, she will need to wait until summer I guess-</p>

<p>So yesterday I discovered this weird white mass protruding from my left tonsil... Any idea what the heck it is? My mom thinks it's caused by a virus, but I don't have a sore throat/stuffy nose/fever or anything. It doesn't hurt, it's just really annoying, but I'm a bit of a hypochondriac and am worried that whatever it is will mess up my singing. =&lt;/p>

<p>It could be something called a tonsillolith or tonsil stone.</p>

<p>This is sort of gross -- but are your tonsils pitted at all -- sometimes food particles can get caught in the pits. If you are feeling fine, and the white mass was removable eith a q-tip it could be something as simple as that.</p>

<p>D is wondering if before leaving for college she should have her tonsils removed. She is hardly ever sick and they have never really bothered her at all, but at some point early last year she had an episode where her tonsils were swollen for a couple of weeks.</p>

<p>Any ideas?</p>

<p>MTgrlsmom, I doubt any reputable physician/surgeon would agree to remove someone's tonsils as a pre-emptive strike against illness that does not seem to be happening, but might happen.: ) If she has not had trouble with them, why undergo surgery? Plus, consider that she is a singer, and surgery of any kind always carries some kind of risk. That said, I am not a doctor or a medical professional of any kind, so maybe someone here such as our lovely Coach C (who is a real expert) can weigh in. I will be interested in what she has to say. But I am guessing that unless your D has had repeated issues with her tonsils in the past, most doctors are not going to want to do surgery on her.</p>

<p>NMR - that sure would make perfect sense to me "why fix it while it ain't broke" :). I was just curious whether a pre-emptive strike would be good in this case, as I would rather have her do it while at home so that I can play nurse :).</p>

<p>I have been playing nurse to my D for a week now because she had her wisdom teeth surgically removed last Wednesday. She is still very sore and must go back to school Saturday. My advice, if you do opt for any kind of surgery, is to allow plenty of recovery time. Due to her schedule, this was the only time we were able to do this (had already postponed it twice), but 10 days is not enough time to recover. I'm hoping she will improve rapidly when she gets back to school and gets her mind on something besides herself!</p>

<p>Those wisdom teeth can be tricky, my S who goes to school with your D had his out the week before freshman year, not a lot of trouble, his brother's were so bad we even had to have the oral surgeon meet us at his office in the middle of the night, so you can never tell. I'm sure she'll be so busy back to her "life" she'll do great, after all she's a proven "trouper"!</p>

<p>cartera45, it was a tonsil stone. Man, those things are disgusting. (And now my left tonsil is inflamed... but at least I don't have any more crap in there)</p>

<p>Back to tonsillectomy - my son had it done 3 weeks before starting college. It was a horrible surgery to recover from as an adult. I don't think he would ever recommend it as a preemptive measure. He had had chronic problems for years - his tonsils were almost always inflamed or infected, so his situation was different. He's been very glad he got it done. </p>

<p>Both of my kids had wisdom teeth out at about age 16, thank goodness. I can tell you that the recovery is not at all the same. Tonsillectomy is many times worse than wisdom teeth. Don't do it unless there are chronic problems.</p>

<p>CoachC, I see that you work at Diagnostic</a> Services</p>

<p>Could you talk a little about the value of these diagnostic services? It seems like this kind of thing would be great for creating a baseline for a singer's development, and also to use as a reference if there are any health issues.</p>

<p>KatiesDad -</p>

<p>You're right - a baseline evaluation is great for any singer. It's fantastic for doctors to be able to see what a singer's vocal folds look like when they are healthy and functioning optimally, so that they can compare when a singer is NOT doing well. Some singers - not many, but some - have "lumps and bumps" on their vocal folds when they are doing fine!!! So it's invaluable for us to have a "healthy voice" comparison for our singers and other professional voice users.</p>

<p>Where I work, we have a cool system that allows us to store each video we take of the vocal folds during the exam and then be able to pull up videos side by side, so we can actually compare old exams to new exams in real time - VERY helpful!</p>

<p>Another great reason to have a baseline is that singers can actually take DVD's of their exams on the road, to school, etc., so doctors in other areas also have a basis for comparison.</p>

<p>So go get those baseline exams, everyone!!! :)</p>

<p>My D has had a cold for 3 weeks and can't seem to shake it. While it seems that most of the symptoms are gone she continues to have a dry hacking cough that is pretty constant and I really don't know what to do for her. She has 4 auditions next week at the Chicago Unifieds and I'm not sure how she's going to do it if she doesn't get some relief. I'm starting to think I should take her to the doctor tomorrow but not sure what they can do for her cough. I would really welcome any suggestions you all might have.</p>

<p>I think it never hurts to have a doctor take a look. Maybe there is something that can be done to break the cycle so, if there is inflammation, it can heal. If it is a stubborn virus or a mucous problem, then steam, sinus rinsing and gargling with salt water may help. Rinse the sinuses or neti pot more than once a day and gargle gently 4-5 times a day. I dillute pineapple juice and put in some honey and make a tea that my D finds to be really soothing.</p>

<p>Anyone know if chlorine has any negative effect on the throat? My D wants to start swimming for another form of aerobic exercise. Thanks.</p>

<p>DD likes to swim and has done so competitevly. She was encouraged to continue to swim to help with breath control and core strentgh. Has had no negative impact on her voice. She is a VP major.</p>

<p>Chlorine vapors (from a heavily-chlorinated pool) can have an irritating effect on already-irritated vocal folds, leading to breathing difficulty. (This is sometimes referred to as paradoxical vocal fold motion or vocal cord dysfunction and can be caused by MANY other irritants, too.) However, in most people chlorine has no negative effect on the voice! :)</p>