Voice
Voice is the sound made by air passing from your lungs through your larynx, or voice box. In your larynx are your vocal cords, two bands of muscle that vibrate to make sound. For most of us, our voices play a big part in who we are, what we do, and how we communicate. Like fingerprints, each person's voice is unique.
Many things we do can injure our vocal cords. Talking too much, screaming, constantly clearing your throat, or smoking can make you hoarse. They can also lead to problems such as nodules, polyps, and sores on the vocal cords. Other causes of voice disorders include infections, upward movement of stomach acids into the throat, growths due to a virus, cancer, and diseases that paralyze the vocal cords.
Signs that your voice isn't healthy include:
- Your voice has become hoarse or raspy
- You've lost the ability to hit some high notes when singing
- Your voice suddenly sounds deeper
- Your throat often feels raw, achy, or strained
- It's become an effort to talk
Treatment for voice disorders varies depending on the cause. Most voice problems can be successfully treated when diagnosed early.
NIH: National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders
Felter's Materia Medica on Voice
The fresh corm of Arisaema triphyllum, Torre (Nat. Ord. Araceae). Common in damp woods and wet situations in North and South merica. Common Names:... / ...onic laryngitis aggravated by singing or public speaking, and accompanied by hoarseness and loss of voice, burning and sense of constriction in the throat, and thin ichorous discharge from the nose. A...1
The root of Asclepias tuberosa, Linné (Nat. Ord. Asclepiadaceae). United States and Canada. Dose, 5 to 60 grains. Common Names: Pleurisy Root,... / ...t of the skin may be in evidence. The early Eclectics were neither dreaming nor romancing when they voiced their verdict concerning the great value of pleurisy root in pleuritic and other chest affect...1
The root of Bryonia dioica, Jacquin, and Bryonia alba, Linné (Nat. Ord. Cucurbitaceae.) Europe. Common Names: Bryony, Bastard Turnip, Devil's... / ... allay the harsh, harassing cough. Bryonia is an excellent agent for cough brought on by use of the voice, or by motion of any kind, as walking, swallowing food, entering a warm room, and for that for... / ...its origin in irritation or erethism. Tensive or sharp pains are almost always present, and the secretion, if there is any, is small in quantit1
...rynx or anus; sense of constriction with tickling in the throat, with cough arising from use of the voice; a sensation as if a foreign body were lodged in the rectum, with a painful contraction of the......t is common among public speakers, singers, auctioneers, hucksters, and others compelled to use the voice beyond the ordinary. It is also valuable in other forms of laryngitis, with congestion or hype...1
The dried, ripe seed of Physostigma venenosum, Balfour (Nat. Ord. Leguminosae). A climbing perennial, native of Calabar, in the Gulf of Guinea, on... / .... In fact, the whole range of physiological action of physostigma and its alkaloids is discordantly voiced by experimental investigators. Full doses in man produce extreme prostration and muscular wea... / ...drug has not therefore had a fair trial. It is one of the suggested antidotes for strychnine poisoning, the alkaloid being preferred. For all of1