0880 – Vomiting And The Voice

2023.05.30 – 0880 – Vomiting And The Voice

Vomiting

We’ve mentioned this a few times in terms of acid reflux and alcohol consumption. Let’s take a second to look at it a little more closely. (Ugh!)

Vomiting is extremely damaging to the voice and it’s not surprising, as the stomach contents flows ‘the wrong way’ into the pharynx and larynx and potentially into and out of your mouth (‘reflux’ means ‘regurgitation’ or ‘backwards flow’).

With Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease (or GERD) the stomach contents stay in the oesophagus and produce symptoms like heartburn. With Laryngopharyngeal reflux (LPR) the acid-and-food contents rise all the way back up to and coating the larynx.

In bulimia-induced vomiting though, the valve in the stomach that keeps acid down is deliberately overpowered, causing irreversible damage to the valve so that reflux occurs constantly; the entire contents of the stomach come back up.

Acid on your vocal folds is not too bad occasionally but say, daily, they won’t have time to heal and so become:

·        Swollen – leading to hoarseness, coughing, throat-clearing and a lower pitch

·        Heavier – leading to less range

·        More easily injured

·        More prone to polyps and nodules

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