Staying Hydrated to Maintain Your Voice Quality
As a musician, your voice is undoubtedly an essential tool for your career. Singing tops the list of occupations that makes a demand on the voice. Therefore, you wouldn’t want a voice strain or break to rob you of your passion. That’s why you must take adequate care of it. There are numerous music tips and information regarding this issue, and we’ll discuss the role water intake plays.
Importance of Adequate Hydration
Generally, adequate hydration is essential for everyone, musician or not. There are various reasons why it’s beneficial. Firstly, it’s crucial for homeostasis, which is the regulation of body temperature. It also aids the proper functioning of multiple body organs and systems, including the lubrication of joints. Other functions include nutrient transportation, preventing infections, and some others.
Barriers to Proper Hydration
Some situations prevent people from consuming the needed amount of water daily. They include certain disease conditions or a bedridden state and not knowing the necessity of appropriate fluid intake. Another major problem is the lack of access to clean water. This issue is widespread, but people have since come up with methods to make any available water source fit for drinking.
Simple Ways to Purify Your Water
There are various simple ways to purify water without having to undertake any lengthy or complicated process. That includes boiling, treatment with chemicals like iodine or chlorine, and even using ultraviolet light. However, one of the current most used methods is filtration. Experts in the field have simplified and automated the process such that we have things like refrigerator water filters.
They’re usually portable and easy to fix or install. For example, after buying the best under sink water filter in the market, it ensures that purified water flows from that faucet. Therefore, you can choose any of the purification methods as it’s convenient for you. However, some people combine two or three of them to ensure effectiveness even though most are singularly efficient.
Water and Your Voice
Specific voice coaches assert that water is a vital tool in maintaining vocal health. One reason is that apart from direct lubrication, it helps in mucus production, which also lubricates the vocal cord mucosa. Hence, our voice also benefits from adequate water consumption. Staying hydrated boosts voice quality and stability and prevent susceptibility to injuries from overuse. They recommend about 64 ounces of water daily.
Preventing Voice Problems
As established earlier, proper hydration is a vital method of maintaining vocal health, thus preventing any issues that would typically arise. However, it requires more technicalities than drinking large quantities of fluid at once. Therefore we’ll discuss some tips that would be beneficial to help you achieve adequate water consumption.
1. Always Have Water with You
This tip is essential for even people who aren’t musicians. Carrying a bottle of water around helps increase the number of fluids you consume. It would help if you took a sip here and a gulp there without waiting to feel thirsty. That way, you provide your body with what it needs at regular intervals. Some people even go as far as setting timers and reminders to build a pattern.
2. Humidify
The optimal humidity should be about 30 percent. During winter and dry weather conditions, this value reduces, and the atmosphere’s state can affect your voice quality. Hence, we recommend that you use a humidifier in your home to regulate these conditions. It prevents dryness that may result in voice hoarseness.
3. Watch Your Caffeine and Alcohol Intake
As much as you ought to ensure adequate fluid intake, there are some beverages you must avoid or limit. Alcohol and caffeine promote water loss from the body, which is counterproductive to what we’re trying to achieve. Also, alcohol can cause irritations on the throat mucous membranes. That depletes the lubrication and may result in voice breaking after a while.
4. Diet
Another essential tip for boosting your voice and general health is to pay attention to your diet. Numerous suitable dietary options involve the incorporation of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. A balanced meal is essential, and fruits also add to your water consumption, which’s a double benefit. Some experts advise the avoidance of overly spicy foods as they cause acid reflux.
Other Ways to Take Care of Your Voice
Taking care of your voice as a musician is not limited to water consumption, though it plays a huge role. There are other things that you must also do to maintain vocal health. They include regular exercise routines, getting enough rest, and avoidance of smoking. Also, practice breathing techniques, avoid extremes of your vocal range without training and don’t overwork yourself.