Vocal nodules (damaging the vocal chords)

Atlas

Hey guys! Thought I'd try out this cool forum with a question regarding screaming, belting and such.

I have (pretty) recently started to get serious about my singing voice and have started to practice a lot of screaming and belting. The last two times I have sung though, I have felt as if my voice have been braking just a bit more than usual. My question is:

Can I damage my vocal chords even though my throat never hurts when I sing/scream.

I might add that I do usually experience some hoarsness (is that the right word for it?) limited to a smaller part of my head/falsetto voice a short while after I finnish practicing.

Hope you guys have some answers.

Cheers!

highmtn

Hi, Atlas!

Nice to meet you!

It's very easy to overdo it with your vocal cords.  They are very sensitive, and will swell if you rough them up very much.  When they get swollen, you will lose a few notes in your upper midrange. 

You should not be getting hoarse. Getting hoarse is an indication that you are doing something incorrectly, and chronically getting hoarse can lead to nodes or other problems that will shorten the useful singing life of your vocal cords.

It's important to learn to stop short of irritating your cords.  If you can learn to back off enough and always stop what you are doing when you become aware that you are irritating your cords, you can prevent hoarseness.  Most of the time we overexert our voices when we are just short of making it to a high note, and we push as an effort to make it to that note. Usually this only results in our voices splatting badly, and that can cause hoarseness when our cords go into overexcursions.

It's a lot like blowing a speaker.  First a little distortion, and then if you don't turn it down quickly, a BLOWOUT!

Then you need repair.  Don't go there.  Take better care of your instrument!

If you damage your voice from misuse, you can end up like so many of our favorite artists who now can't even sing their own songs that made them famous!

Learn proper singing techniques and stay within the boundaries of healthful singing.

Healthful belting is fine.  Unhealthful belting and screaming is destructive to your voice, especially in the long run.

Bob 

 

Atlas

Hey Bob. Thanks a lot for the info. I think im gonna dial down the intensity of my singing for a while.

Thanks again.

Cheers!