Lung Injury - Over-supporting?

treykays

Hi all,

Quick recap, scuba diving in Thailand earlier this year I was holding my breathe accidentally and had chest discomfort for 4 hours after the dive. I'm thinking it was slight over-expansion.

Fast forward 5 months. 1 year into KTVA now volume 3 and am loving my voice and life. Haha.

Today I was singing normally and was doing an especially high chesty passage and a few minutes after the pain was back. It was identical to the pain five months back after scuba.

Has anyone ever heard of an injury from pushing to hard with your diaphragm? Or if I had a pre existing injury could I have aggravated it by over-exertion?

Terrified. I am just starting to get those high powerful passages and this happens...

Thanks in advance,
Derek

hubert

I had a soreness in my lungs several times that lasted three to four days at most and it was due to tanking up too much air and trying to hold it back. Try to take smaller breaths and open up the ribcage more (without taking more air in) - the breath will almost stop when you maintain that "active opening" of ribcage without any discomfort. Also you can use your latissimus dorsi muscles to help keep the ribcage actively opened at your back while singing. It helps to keep that chest opened like it should be when you're singing very high. Don't forget to push your abs belov the navel inwards slowly (without that you might have been singing using too much strength from the chest muscles to keep the chest from falling and that was not really necessary). I hope it helps.
If your diaphragm is injured you won't be here with us buddy (because you won't be able to breathe) Take care!

highmtn

Your injury from the scuba incident could have been aggravated by over-exertion within the lungs. As you know, if you tank up on air at depth, and then come up towards the surface, that air will expand, and could cause problems within your lungs. Because of that injury, you may still need to be careful.

5 months isn't that long, and some injuries stay with us for a while.

It's not normal to feel pain in your lungs from singing, even high, chesty sounds.

You should talk to your doctor, and let them know what you experienced, as well as relating it to your history. The pushing down, done with the diaphragm for vocal support should only Reduce pressure on the lungs, not increase it.

Still, pain is pain, and you don't want to take any chances if you are still on the mend or have a longer-term injury from the scuba.

All the Best!

Bob

treykays

Thank you so much for the prompt replies! I understand that when the diaphragm moves down, belly comes out, the lungs fill up... But when I am singing hard my core is fully engaged and it feels like I am increasing pressure in my lungs, and then letting out the tiny little bits with glottal compression to sing. I thought that is why it is called compression? Sorry I am a bit misguided I think. What is happening in my belly? Haha.

I will take it easy and repost my experience. Thanks.

highmtn

Your ribs should be held in an expanded state to take the weight of the ribcage off of the lungs. You push down on the diaphragm like you do when you inhale as you are singing out, which reduces the force on the lungs when exhaling. Your belly and lower back expand to allow the diaphragm to come down (opposing the outflow pressure) and you resist as you bring the belly back in, which also reduces the outflow pressure. Your cords are closed and you are holding the breath back (after volume 3) and this creates a small degree of compression (controlled) within the singing breath. The comression is audible in the sound, but holding back the breath at the base of the neck and to some degree at the glottis, creates the light compression.

treykays

Wow. That really puts things into perspective. Thank you so much! It is feeling a little better today. Difficult to not over worry it. One step at a time I guess. Thanks!