IMPROVEMENTS and PYV: What Makes Your Voice FEEL BETTER?--New Research!!

The Week of June 22nd & July 5th BLOGs:  

Tuesday Toss Up: IMPROVEMENTS...

(see video above for a visual!!!)

PRIORITIZING YOUR VOICE can be as simple as listening to that “inner voice” that tells you to get it checked out if you’ve noticed a change that’s lasted longer than two weeks.
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I love this before & after video… I saw this lovely patient awhile back for a videostroboscopy & surprisingly found a vocal fold hemorrhage on the right true VF along with a varix on the left VF, bilateral  VF edema, & bilateral mid membranous fullness suspected to be consistent with VF nodules. The patient travels a lot for work, uses her voice significant amount, & also enjoys singing. We were only able to fit in two voice therapy sessions at different points in time when she was in town… But this patient made LOTS of GREAT changes in her vocal health. She purchased & used a VocalMist ultrasonic nebulizer, she also uses the SingRing from Oovo Straw (SOVTEs), & now has heightened awareness related to abdominal support for voice, forward focused voice (vs pressing & strain), cup phonation, & has also reduced vocally inefficient behavioral patterns (throat clearing & yelling). Additionally, she has made some INCREDIBLE lifestyle & general health changes, positive changes in nutrition & exercise, & maintained her COMMITMENT to all of these which continues to SHINE forth. The “after” part of this video is wonderful because it displays white pearly VFs, essentially healed VF tissues, dramatically reduced swelling, & improvements in vibratory parameters….& although the mid membranous lesions are still present they are reduced in size.
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The patient remarked that she wished she would’ve been more consistent with her regimen seeing all the improvements that were revealed without structured consistency… But I mentioned to her that often once we see something on the inside that correlates to what we feel, & it reminds us that our body needs to heal and we need to tune IN to things that we may not have been aware of before, our awareness becomes heightened to many things because our body DOES want to heal & become “normal” again. It’s that awareness that jumpstarts the intrinsic motivation for positive change & self-advocacy. So despite her feeling that she could’ve been more “perfect” with the healing process (aren’t we always looking for “perfection”?), the display of a much different picture in her follow-up videostroboscopy exhibits the fact that 1) our body DOES want to heal, 2) any voice therapy, lifestyle changes, health-related changes, & vocal hygiene-related commitments/improvements are good/great & WILL make a difference, & 3) improvements in awareness absolutely DO contribute to anatomical & functional improvements. Despite her not feeling perfectly consistent with exercises, she was consistent with positive changes in overall health & vocal health.
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I am REALLY proud of her & I know that she will only continue to improve. A perfect example of our body reminding us how important it is to prioritize our voices, & also of the positive impact that small changes can have on our beautiful vocal instruments. And of course— a great reminder to stay positive because every positive step is one in the right direction towards improving your vocal health & wellness.
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CHEERS (to your best voice), and #prioritizeyourvoice! 

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#voxfit #voice #prioritizeyourvoice #pyv #yesyoucan #healthyvoice #vocalhealth #vocalwellness #vocalefficiency #vocaldynamics #speechpathologist #voicespecialist #fitnessinstructor #fitnessisfun #goworkout #prioritizeyourhealth #letsgo #videostroboscopy #improvement #vocalinstrument #occupationalvoiceuser #tuesdaytossup

Prioritize Your Voice: WHAT MAKES YOUR VOICE FEEL BETTER?

This new research study aimed to map the execution of resonance tube phonation immersed in water (a.k.a. straw in water exercises) in adults with healthy or dysphonic voices. 

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It provided a scoping review using an electronic search and several databases. A total of 44 publications were analyzed and the most frequent studies were before an after exercise with a “resonance tube immersed in water” (straw phonation in water), an exercise execution time of three minutes, and in cases of more than one series of exercises there was often a 30 second rest time. The most used resonance tube a.k.a. straw was a “flexible silicone tube with a wall thickness of 0.1 mm in a bottle or container 2/3 filled with water and the tube immersed 2 cm from the water surface”. The phonatory task was most often a flow phonation type vowel with a rounded lips similar to the vowel /u/ (“ooooh”)—as we know to be the case.  Acoustic analysis and vocal self-assessment were the most commonly used outcome measures in all of these studies that were reviewed, and the BEST results were obtained in the SELF-ASSESSMENT. ** And isn’t that what truly matters?! YES of course data driven acoustic measurements matter as do stroboscopic improvements, BUT if you FEEL better about your voice (how it FEELS, how it SOUNDS) isn’t that what makes do you want to keep doing the exercise…? Isn’t that what makes you develop improved vocal self-confidence and self efficacy??! 

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The results from our most recent study we did showed the exact same thing!  MORE to come on that but the results displayed improvements in self-assessments from baseline to the end of the study relative to VHI-10, the Vocal Effort Scale, and Vocal Fatigue Index (AND also the CAPE-V although not a self-assessment).  

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PRIORITIZE YOUR VOICE TODAY AND EVERYDAY by doing those things that make your voice FEEL better!!   

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#voxfit #voice #prioritizeyourvoice #sovtes #strawphonation #pyv #yesyoucan #healthyvoice #vocalhealth #vocalwellness #vocalefficiency #vocaldynamics #speechpathologist #voicespecialist #fitnessinstructor #fitnessisfun #goworkout #prioritizeyourhealth #letsgo #tunein #prioritizeyourvoicefriday #vocalinstrument #occupationalvoiceuser #selfassessment