{"id":22,"date":"2011-02-14T23:45:28","date_gmt":"2011-02-14T23:45:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/losangelesrockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/?p=22"},"modified":"2011-05-08T05:14:01","modified_gmt":"2011-05-08T05:14:01","slug":"taking-care-of-your-voice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/voice\/taking-care-of-your-voice\/","title":{"rendered":"Taking Care of Your Voice"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2 id=\"care_03\">Tips to Prevent Voice Problems<\/h2>\n<ul>\n<li>Limit your intake of drinks that include alcohol or caffeine. These  act as diuretics (substances that increase urination) and cause the body  to lose water. This loss of fluids dries out the voice. Alcohol also  irritates the mucous membranes that line the throat.<\/li>\n<li>Drink plenty of water. Six to eight glasses a day is recommended.<\/li>\n<li>Don&#8217;t smoke and avoid second-hand smoke. Cancer of the <a title=\"Link to definition\">vocal folds<\/a> is seen most often in individuals who smoke.<\/li>\n<li>Practice good breathing techniques when singing or talking. It  is important to support your voice with deep breaths from the diaphragm,  the wall that separates your chest and abdomen. Singers and speakers  are often taught exercises that improve this breath control. Talking  from the throat, without supporting breath, puts a great strain on the  voice.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid eating spicy foods. Spicy foods can cause stomach acid to move into the throat or esophagus (reflux).<\/li>\n<li>Use a humidifier in your home. This is especially important in  winter or in dry climates. Thirty percent humidity is recommended.<\/li>\n<li>Try not to overuse your voice. Avoid speaking or singing when your voice is hoarse.<\/li>\n<li>Wash your hands often to prevent colds and flu.<\/li>\n<li>Include plenty of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables in your  diet. These foods contain vitamins A, E, and C. They also help keep the  mucus membranes that line the throat healthy.<\/li>\n<li>Do not cradle the phone when talking. Cradling the phone  between the head and shoulder for extended periods of time can cause  muscle tension in the neck.<\/li>\n<li>Exercise regularly. Exercise increases stamina and muscle tone.  This helps provide good posture and breathing, which are necessary for  proper speaking.<\/li>\n<li>Get enough rest. Physical fatigue has a negative effect on voice.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid talking in noisy places. Trying to talk above noise causes strain on the voice.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid mouthwash or gargles that contain alcohol or irritating  chemicals. If you still wish to use a mouthwash that contains alcohol,  limit your use to oral rinsing. If gargling is necessary, use a salt  water solution.<\/li>\n<li>Avoid using mouthwash to treat persistent bad breath. Halitosis  (bad breath) may be the result of a problem that mouthwash can&#8217;t cure,  such as low grade infections in the nose, sinuses, tonsils, gums, or  lungs, as well as from gastric reflux from the stomach.<\/li>\n<li>Consider using a microphone. In relatively static environments  such as exhibit areas, classrooms, or exercise rooms, a lightweight  microphone and an amplifier-speaker system can be of great help.<\/li>\n<li>Consider voice therapy. A speech-language pathologist who is  experienced in treating voice problems can provide education on healthy  use of the voice and instruction in proper voice techniques.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Tips to Prevent Voice Problems Limit your intake of drinks that include alcohol or caffeine. These act as diuretics (substances that increase urination) and cause the body to lose water. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":25,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[31,5],"tags":[33,35,36,34,52,32,51],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":98,"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22\/revisions\/98"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rockstartherapy.com\/Entertainment-Industry-Therapist-and-Counselor\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}