Hydration Boot Camp: Part Two of Three...
July 30, 2019
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READ LAST WEEK’S POST (PART ONE) to give you a foundational understanding of the positive impact of hydration on the VOICE. As stated in the post, there are two types of hydration—systemic & direct/superficial. Several studies show that increasing both systemic & superficial hydration levels may benefit voice production & vocal health.
To maintain adequate systemic hydration, it is recommended to drink at least half of your body weight in ounces of WATER daily & reduce/eliminate “dehydrators” (caffeine, alcohol, smoking, vaping, exposure to smoke or other environmental irritants, etc.). A good rule of thumb is to actually check out the color of your urine (YES, DO IT), & if it is pale to clear in color, then you are adequately hydrated at the cellular level (“Pee Clear, Speak with No Fear”).
It is also important to be aware of the air quality/humidity levels in the environments you regularly are exposed to—this includes the bedroom (where you likely spend several hours possibly breathing through your mouth & obviously not continuing to re-hydrate via drinking water), the office or studio (again likely somewhere you spend several hours during the day), an airplane (an extremely drying environment—try a device called the “Humidiflyer”), the theater (possibly exposing your vocal fold mucosa to the negative effects of stage fog/smoke or dust), & the list goes on. Humidity refers to the amount of moisture in the air you breathe, & this can have a dramatic impact on the voice. A study by Jiang et al. (2000) showed that exposure to dry air (20-30% humidity) for ~5 mins increased phonation threshold pressure (PTP—which is the energy required to drive oscillation of the VFs) & decreased vocal efficiency. The same authors proved via a different experiment that the detrimental effects of dehydration on vocal function can be reversed with rehydration. A study by Sivasankar & Fisher (2002) showed that inhaling poorly humidified air for 15 mins through the mouth increased PTP in healthy subjects & also resulted in complaints such as vocal fatigue & throat dryness. Another study found that subjective reports of fatigue & neck/shoulder/back discomfort were reported to increase after prolonged voice use under conditions of low humidity as compared to high ambient humidity (Vintturi et al., 2003). Additionally, increased systemic hydration was also observed to lessen some of the adverse phonatory effects of vocally-fatiguing tasks (Solomon & DiMattia, 2000).
If you find humidity is less than ideal, use a humidifier in the bedroom or another room that you spend a lot of time. A hygrometer will provide a reading of the humidity inside a particular room and will be a valuable tool in “controlling” the hydrating or dehydrating properties of your environment.
Moral of the story: Hydrated vocal folds are happy vocal folds. CHOOSE hydration for your body and your environment.
Stay tuned for Part Three of this Hydration Boot Camp series to learn lots more about how you can set your VOICE up for hydration success!
