Vocal Physiotherapy – What Is It?

Why Vocal Physiotherapy

Vocal production is something that is affected by multiple factors. It is not only the vibration of your vocal chords. It is the coordination of your breathing, posture, and muscle activation. As such if any of these is out of sync, then you may have some problems with your vocal production. In some cases, it may even lead to you overstraining and causing a condition called muscle tension dysphonia.

You may be a good candidate for vocal physiotherapy if you suffer from symptoms such as a loss of range, breathy voice, feeling of tighness and fatigue when voicing.

What does it involve

Your physiotherapist will assess you on several things. Commonly assessed are:

• laryngeal mobility
• neck, shoulder, hip, and lower back postures
• jaw symmetry and stiffness
• tightness in laryngeal, neck, and shoulder muscles
• breathing pattern and muscle activation during vocal production
• core muscle strength

What is the treatment?

Vocal physiotherapy will typically involve correction of postures, treatment of myofascial, muscular, and cartilaginous structures of the larynx. We also try to ensure that optimal support patterns are being employed during vocalisation.

Do note that this is not the same as vocal coaching. Treatment is usually done in collaboration with your own vocal coaches or ENT specialist. This is especially true if you have been diagnosed with dysphonia.

We hope this has been useful for you. Find out more useful exercises by checking out our instagram page. If you think that you need an assessment or a session of vocal physiotherapy, feel free to contact us and book an appointment.