Vocal Cord Swelling Checks: A Simple Way to Detect the Early Signs of Vocal Injury

Vocal cord swelling checks can help prevent a chronic vocal injury. The swelling checks, which are a pair of short, simple vocal exercises, help you to monitor the health of your vocal cord mucosa and detect the presence of any possible swelling, which could be the beginning of a potentially more serious vocal cord injury. By performing these checks twice a day every day, you can hopefully respond quickly to any warning signs and avoid the need for treatment down the road.

In this video, Dr. Bastian explains more fully how vocal injury might occur, he introduces and demonstrates the two swelling checks he recommends, and he discusses the long-term strategy for incorporating these checks into your daily routine.

––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––

#vocalcords #voiceinjury #voicebuilding #voiceexercises

[millies]

Oh poor thing at the beginning! I'd cry so much!

[ankontini]

Finally I know what's happening with my voice from this video. I told even professional singers that my voice hurts after singing and I feel as if there is a veil on it. At it's worsts I will try to hit a note and another will "bounce". I am surprised that so many people I asked couldn't tell me what that is. Thank god we have the internet! This video is extremely informative.The bad news is that my vocal cords seem to be damaged. The good news is that now I wont push them thinking "I just need more practice".

[chabar]

I had a complete loss of upper register and I haven't talked for 4 days, now my ceiling is E5. Thank you!

[Michael-fwef]

I traveled from Canada to Chicago, USA to see Dr. Bastien in 2010. In Canada, our waiting lists are so long, often we don't get a chance to see the doctor before it's too late. So, I crossed the border and saw Dr. Bastien to help me with a swallowing disorder I was experiencing. Dr. Bastien was so good. He gave me a full examination, scheduled a swallowing test at the hospital for me the same day and then met with me and reviewed the results, again all within the same day. I couldn't believe how good his care was compared to what I experience in Canaada. I am so thankful that he sees international patients because timely care is everything when someone is sick and needs medical treatment.

[davocal]

Hi Dr. B. Thanks for doing this. It was brilliant of you to do so. Folks, I’m a voice actor by trade. This man actually IS my vocal Dr. in Chicago. He’s brilliant, gentle, and saved my voice.

[stephiesands]

I cried and cried in college going through my voice degree constantly being told I was cracking because I was afraid of the high notes yet still forced into being a soprano. It never failed to be in the same spots (and never mind that I can sing way above the ugly crack). I’ve learned to muscle my way around them, but I know that it just takes one tiny slip up on a bad day to make me sound like an elk. I’ve never heard anyone else make this wookiee sound so it’s always made me feel alone and given me terrible performance anxiety.
Although I wish I would’ve seen it when you first posted it, I feel like a weight has been lifted. I’m looking forward to taking vocal rest seriously in hopes of having a fluid range one day. This was inspirational, extremely informative, and gave me hope again. Thank you!!

[LynnXternal]

Dr. Bastian, thank you thank you thank you SO MUCH for this video. I'm a singer/vocal student and I've been frustrated in my inability to hit my usual soprano notes, to the point where I have just been singing mezzo soprano. Whereas I used to be able to hit a C6 without too much difficulty when singing, suddenly I was struggling to get up above G5. Randomly this weekend, like a secret voice in my head, something made me wonder if my cords were damaged, and searching led me to this video.

Lo and behold! I tested myself and in that barely audible squeak of happy birthday, I couldn't get up above my CHEST VOICE without having breathy/whistly onsets. I thing I got stuck at a really low note like G4 before there was some resistance as you mentioned. I swore off singing (and most talking) for a few days, and I just did the test today. My throat felt kind of different this morning, and now my voice went up to about F5 with the test. I warmed up and I have my C6 back!

You've saved my voice today, and you've potentially saved my voice for the long term as I'm only two years into my singing career. Thank you so much for literally saving peoples' livelihoods. Vocal fold swelling checks do indeed keep the doctor away!😅

[nemanyas]

A week before an entrance exam to music school, this happened to me, unfortunately, due to some misuse of my voice (ironically not singing, but too much talking at a dinner party). I couldn't get an appointment with an ENT, but the next day I had a lesson with my voice teacher. I told her I wasn't feeling well.She thought I was just not breathing correctly, or that I was tense, and she kept urging me to "sing out", until I said enough since I started feeling fatigue shortly into the lesson. She just couldn't take me seriously because I was able to phonate anyway, but it was horrible, just like in this video. I'm going to send her this video just to show her that this is a serious issue and not an issue of technique. Vocal professionals need people like you to educate them like this. Thank you!

[Laryngopedia]

Thanks for your good comment. Swelling checks allow every singer to establish a personal "baseline" when they first become aware of vocal cord swelling checks. This baseline can be determined, no matter what the voice type, singing style, and whether the vocal cords are normal or already damaged. Then, going forward, you can monitor to make sure that baseline is either stable or improving, and not deteriorating. It allows one to know when they have "overdone it" and created even subtle swelling. It would permit one to know that existing mucosal injury is resolving, if the baseline is improving (meaning the "initial mucosal ceiling is rising, semitone by semitone). For persons well-versed in expected range for all of the various voice classifications, it can be used as well to compare with the "group" to which they belong.

[edjo]

You are helping give my life back! I do not know what I would do without singing. Overuse has me swollen just enough and I could not figure out what was wrong. These checks help me monitor things! This is a great video!

[CharisReese]

This was probably one of the best most detailed and solution-oriented videos I have ever watched! thank you!

[Elena-dqev]

this helped my anxiety so much. my voice is fine for now

[cynthialobo]

Fantastic video help! Doctors and even other professional singers couldn't help me beyond saying "rest the voice" and "take these steroids for a few days." Yes, these were part of what I learned from this video but BEYOND THAT, I got all that I needed to reassure myself (I was freaking out lately) that I could heal, and learned about tools to monitor and care for my voice going forward. I am a trial lawyer and a singer as well, so I am in the 'overdoer' category by trade and choice. THANK YOU AGAIN AND AGAIN, doctor! I'm sharing this video with many others who I am sure will be grateful that someone out there actually cared enough to post online HELP without a doctor's visit.:)

[hugoblaise]

Introduction 00:12
The Voice's "Clothing" 00:52
Mucosa 01:35
Preventing Injury 02:30
Designing the Checks 04:39
The Checks 05:38
Long-term Strategy 09:35
Conclusion 14:57

[BoomBoom-rwru]

Thank you! I've been worrying about vocal injury for a few days so I'm glad I found this! Fortunately my vocal chords are fine :)

[pukaka]

The most scientific vocal check on YouTube.

[eviek]

Thank you! I had laryngitis 4 months ago and my voice has never fully recovered. This explanation has been great.

[KiBoLavaOfficial]

Thank you so much for providing me very informative vocal checking!

My voice drastically changed early this year after I joined an amateur singing contest. Never did I hit notes no more .

[MartyMusic]

Useful advice, particularly for the panicked singer suffering allergies hoping their voice still loves them.
It does.

[chipjenkins]

I absolutely love the vocal checks - I have 2 singing students with nodules at the moment and will be going through this with them. Thanks so much for such excellent work!