In the last blog, I briefly mentioned GERD (gastroesophageal reflux disease) and LPRD (laryngopharyngeal reflux disease), or—in more colloquial terms—reflux. These are common ailments that many singers have to contend with at one point or another.
Essentially, reflux occurs when stomach acid travels up the esophagus, around the epiglottis, and seeps into the trachea, reaching the larynx and vocal folds. This usually happens when we are lying down, especially when we are sleeping at night. It can cause redness and swelling that makes singing more difficult. Often the voice can feel weak, high notes require more effort, and tone may be rougher or breathier than usual.
Most people associate reflux with heartburn. However, many singers do not experience the expected heartburn symptoms, causing them to think that their vocal troubles must be from something else. Often it is only diagnosed, as many of you learned this past fall, through vocal fold stroboscopy (i.e., when someone from a voice clinic views your vocal folds with a small camera).
It is common for ENT’s to prescribe medications to help deal with reflux. However, there are also diet and lifestyle changes that singers should consider making part of their regular routines, as much as possible.
Don’t eat right before bed (ideally, don’t eat 3-4 hours before going to bed). Stomach acid is produced during digestion. If there is no food in your stomach to digest, acid will not be produced.
Don’t exercise right after eating. Ideally, this means avoiding coffee (which is acidic) right before dance class. Consider saving that caffeinated beverage for later.
Know which foods are reflux triggers and moderate them. Caffeine, chocolate, mint, carbonated beverages, alcohol, tomato-based foods, spicy foods, and fried foods are all believed to contribute to reflux.
It may also be a good idea to moderate or eliminate these foods and drinks as the day progresses and you get closer to bed time.
Of course, as with all things, you have to know your own body (while understanding that it will continue to change over your lifetime). Singers don't necessarily have to, for instance, immediately stop eating all tomato-based foods. But, knowing that they can be reflux triggers, start to monitor when you are eating them and how much of them you are eating.
As a vocal athlete, your entire body is your instrument. Understanding reflux and how to avoid it is another way we can keep our voices in top condition.
How has your singing been going this week?
Now go practice.
Wait no I love eating. But I suppose I could maybe stop eating in the hours leading up to bed time. And maybe I could lay off the curry when I have a big voice week coming up. I am still shocked at how the things we habitually consume can have an adverse effect on the voice. Especially this semester I have been really aware at how my diet and environment effect my voice, and have realized just how hard it is to rehab a damaged instrument. So, prevention prevention prevention.
ReplyDeleteMy practice this past week was, well, not so good. David was out of town for Unifieds, and with him went my conviction. But here's to getting back on track!
I have experienced this during my last tech week the we were at the Theatre until 2 in the morning. they would usually have snacks were and i would just eat because the majority of the time I was sitting when the other cast was up performing. So i would go to bed wondering why my voice was so raspy.... REFLUX!!!!
ReplyDeleteI work in coffee when I am not in a show so... there is a lot of consumption of coffee in the mornings... its gotten to the point where my head will start hurting if I don't have a cup.... Addiction at its finest... it doesn't effect my reflux unless i drink about 3 cups... then i start to feel it so I have started holding back on the JO when i don't need it!
I have started running in the mornings to get my body started and my Voice warmed up a little bit... even if i am not vocalizing my voice feels a little warmer because of the cardiovascular muscles working! i have started recently changing not of the things I have been eating... such as more greens and more healthy choices and it totally changes the way my voice performs and feels when singing!
My practicing.... maybe a little of track because listening to Dear Evan Hansen.... hahaha! but I Will get back on track!
I woke up congested/phlegmy yesterday but I don't feel the other symptoms of being sick, so I think it might have to do with a big ol' bout of acid reflux. I try my best to be conscious of how food affects my voice- particularly over the past couple weeks since we've been in tech and opened the show. However, I also make sure that I am eating things that I enjoy while still making sure that I take care of my voice in other ways- lots of water, warming up, keeping an eye on how my voice feels during use.
ReplyDeletePractice has been a bit tight since this past week has been so busy for me. I've managed to warm up my voice most days- some days with shorter warm ups than others. This upcoming week I'd like to spend more time working on my songs and advancing into the later stages of practice, focusing on the songs I've picked out for the semester and making strong acting choices.
I have been extremely aware of what time I eat before bed ever since Bring it On. You touched on acid reflux a handful of times during last semester, and ever since I honestly can say I try my hardest not eat past 8:30. I even set it as one of my new years resolutions. Now... That's not to say I stick with it 100% of the time, but I am defiantly getting better at it. I think with alcohol and late night rehearsals, I try to cut myself some slack, but it is never worth it! Sometimes I can consciously feel the reflux if I go to bed right after eating, and it grosses me out.
ReplyDeletePractice this week has been good, Shalee is back!!! Thank god, and I also have been doing the warm ups backstage at Dogfight. I feel like my voice is getting in better shape, and I am determined to keep going!
Well this blog came at the perfect time. I was just prescribed some anti reflux medication by my ENT a few days ago. I'm sure it has been affecting my singing quite a bit because it has been making my throat feel raw and scratchy and the swelling makes me feel like I have a lump in my throat which makes me tense up. I've been trying to pay attention to what I'm eating to see which foods cause the most problems, but it's extremely helpful to actually have a list of foods that are common triggers. I'll have to watch out for those.
ReplyDeleteThis week has been full of crazy events, but I still manage to sneak in some practice time, even if it's just doing warm ups in my car. I may need to figure out some new times to regularly practice with rehearsals coming up, but I'll stick to it!
I learned about my mild reflux last fall when we did the vocal scopes and I was shocked. I had never had any symptoms or complaints before, but ever since I found out about it I've tried to limit eating after 9 and when I do eat after 9 keep away from trigger foods.
ReplyDeleteMy practicing this week has been almost non existent. Since my voice lesson that I left early because of my cough on Tuesday, I toughed through school on Wednesday as my voice slowly got worse and worse and by Thursday I was diagnosed with the flu! I have been on strict bed rest ever since with little practice other than listening to my recordings. Hopefully I'll be back on the wagon by next week!
This is a topic I am familiar with. For me, I never eat after 6 or 7 due to it being unhealthy and not wanting any reflux. I tend to eat very healthy anyways and don't normally eat foods that will give me high amounts of reflux. I also never drink caffeine at night and have gotten better to not drink as much caffeine anyway.
ReplyDeleteI have practiced a couple times this week and have tried my best to remember and stay on top of things. Unfortunately, I may be getting a cough so hopefully that clears up.
Hahaha... I do all of those things you said not to do. I exercise after eating, drink coffee before dance, and I sometimes not only eat in the 3-4 hour span before bed; but eat while in bed before falling asleep. I've never noticed a huge amount of reflux though, which is lucky. But I would also like to see the beneficial affects from monitoring and limiting these habits. I actually found the food that gives me the most trouble are bananas, it may be because I'm allergic to them, but I've completely cut them out of my diet because of the amount of reflux.
ReplyDeleteMy singing has been going pretty well this week. I opened my show and it has been pretty taxing on my body and on my sleeping schedule. But oddly enough you'd think that singing in a show every night (3 on Saturdays) that my voice would be fatigued, but it's actually the opposite. I've found more opening in my sound and it just seems constantly warm and ready to go, so I'm not complaining. Also there's a difference between singing and practicing, and that's a different story.
I hate reflux. I wish it didn't exist. I very much notice when I break the rules, and therefor every food choice I make is a calculated risk. If I know something important is coming up, then I'm very careful to eat in ways that will keep my tummy happy.
ReplyDeleteSince I've been sick this week (and the week before that and the week before that) I have not been paying very good attention to these guidelines. I have been eating and going to bed or taking a nap more often than not. Since I haven't been vocalizing as much I haven't been too concerned, because I just need to get through this. Hopefully I'll get back to my guidelines starting early next week. Until then, lots of water.
"Know which foods are reflux triggers and moderate them. Caffeine, chocolate, mint, carbonated beverages, alcohol, tomato-based foods, spicy foods, and fried foods are all believed to contribute to reflux." ...uh oh. I am definitely a caffeine, dark chocolate, mint, alcohol, and occasionally tomato-based and spicy food consumer. Good thing I don't have time to consume anything anymore! (Insert slight sarcasm followed by honest tears of hunger and thirst.) I will say though that I am familiar with friends GERD and LPRD and their super fun effects on my body and voice. That being said, while I am a sinner, I do avoid these reflux triggering foods should I know I have a moderate singing day ahead of me, especially on performance days. I used to feel the symptoms of GERD/LPRD last year, but since talking about it with you then, have not felt those odd nasty little bursts last semester or this current one... so, perhaps I'm doing something right or just got lucky.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Emily, I LOVE FOOD! I am so guilty when it comes to "midnight snacks" my roommates and I (especially on the weekends) love ordering a pizza from the Pi since it's so close. I honestly want to be cautious doing this. I have no doubt in my mind that if i'm more aware of this, not only will my voice be healthy but so will most of my body. As for practicing, I haven't done a lot because i've been crewing Dog Fight. Now that it ends today, I should be getting right on track.
ReplyDeleteI'm so guilty of eating before bed. I can't fall asleep if I'm hungry, so I usually have a bit of a snack before I fall asleep. I don't really have any kind of reflux (or it hasn't bothered me at all), so I don't really know how it affects me.
ReplyDeleteMy practicing has been going pretty well! I'm working on memorizing all of my songs for my senior recital and making sure I have all of the little things in the music correct so I don't throw myself off. I'm hoping to get everything memorized very soon so I can sing some of my songs in Dem Lab to practice them and challenge myself to see how I feel singing them in front of people.
Reading on reflux, I felt pretty guilty. The foods you listed as triggers are practically all I eat. I've been trying to branch out more with my diet and this is good to keep in mind. I appreciate the suggestion of not eating before bed, as this is something I do nearly every night. I generally don't eat much during the day and stuff myself when I get back home from work (which is generally late at night). Knowing that eating this late will affect my digestion and stomach acid is very useful. I wake up nearly every morning with my voice feeling horrendous (not just dehydrated but hurting as well). I've never understood why this is, but I now suspect my dietary habits have to do with it.
ReplyDeletePractice has been alright. I listen to the recordings on my phone and sing along as per usual. I've decided to purchase a practice pass at Libby Gardener Hall so I can go over the notes in our songs in class more carefully. This is how I used to practice when I lived with a piano, and I find it to be much more helpful than trying to sign along with a recording that I can hardly hear.
I feel very lucky, because I usually don't usually experience reflux. The one time I do experience reflux, though, is when I eat right before exercising. I usually panic right before going to the gym and realize I didn't eat enough to get me through a workout, and eat something right before. I'm going to try to get better at that though so I don't hurt my larynx.
ReplyDeletePractice this week has actually be going really well! This semester I've only been practicing two or three times a week, but this week I was able to practice every single day for at least half an hour. I realized that I've only had a semester and a half of real voice training, and I've already come so far. I have four and a half more semester of training, so there's no reason that I can't graduate and feel confident in my vocal abilities. I'm really going to make the most of my lessons, and that starts with practicing.
From someone who has LPRD, I can say that it is vital that the rules be followed. I thought that limiting the intake of items on the restricted list would be acceptable but it really isnt. I didn't start noticing true results until I eliminated all of the trigger foods on the list. Also I have noticed a great improvement in my sleep quality by not eating within 4 hours of going to bed or lying down period. These past few weeks I have been really focused on easy, relaxed singing and not involving the throat at all. It feels good to be reworking my voice from the ground up in that regard and i am finding so much more ease in both speaking and singing. I have learned that a simple few changes in the quality and support in the voice can make all of the difference in having a healthy, functioning voice. Im having a great time going through my concert pieces with all of these changes in mind and seeing improvements.
ReplyDelete-Cameron Karter
Okay I am going to be 100% honest, all of those LPRD-preventative habits I already do. So yay me! But UGH, I have not been practicing as much this semester. :(( Last semester I was not too responsible of a person, but I was really really good about practicing. This semester I'm much more responsible in all the other areas of my life, but I have not been nearly as good about practicing. :( This realization makes me sad so I'm going to CHANGE THAT.
ReplyDeleteThis is Madeline Watterson. Apparently I am unknown.
DeleteOften I have little choice about when and what I eat (I just finished dinner after strike as I am writing this). But it's nice to know a lot more about what contributes to reflux (I get what I believe are the symptoms every once and awhile). I might try slightly changing the intensity of my practice depending on how and what I eat the day before and see if that helps. As for practice, I have been highly enjoying my voice being healthy again. I have a ton of songs from varies classes and MTE to learn. But I'm done with dogfight which should help.
ReplyDeleteI am so sick and just trying to figure out how much my body and my voice can handle. I keep trying to push myself but, i have "fuzzy" brain. I am watching a lot of performances to keep my brain in a somewhat performative mindset. I have been watching old tony performances and some boot leg broadway shows. - Sarah Hutch
ReplyDeleteAs a kid, I used to be able to eat and drink whatever I wanted. However, I've noticed that my body has been changing and can't handle the amount of acidic foods that I used to eat. If I have coffee before dance, I notice that I don't feel healthy or energized. I just feel foggy and run-down. I try not to eat before bed, but I always seem to be hungry for snacks right before bed. I'm currently trying to come up with a eating routine so that I am taking care of my body and vocal instrument a lot better. I find that trying to keep up with homework, practicing, and work has been a difficult juggle, and it doesn't help when sickness travels so easily in our program.
ReplyDeleteSo I love food so so much, I do my very best to eat healthy but I do occasionally eat greasy foods like pizza. As a college student one of the things I struggle with most is having normal eating times, I usually eat a really late lunch, skip dinner and then get hungry really late. I know that eating late at night is for sure something I need to change for many reasons.
ReplyDeleteLast week I was pretty sick and have been struggling with a raspy voice. I am still getting over a nasty cold but I am looking forward to getting my voice back on track and taking better care of my body.
I caught a bug this week and though my chest and head voice felt and sounded fine for Dogfight, I had an entire show where I couldn't phonate in my falsetto. It was scary, but Brian helped me prep more intelligently for shows. I think that this new approach to a pre-show warm up helped not only maintain my voice throughout the 6 show weekend despite illness, but helped me mentally in my preparation for each show. This week I really learned about trusting myself and my voice and my instrument. I trust my dancing and I trust my acting, so it was a really new and scary and exciting concept to start trusting my voice. I do the work, and I always felt like I had to keep working harder and harder all the time, but if I know the notes are there and that the technique is in my body, I'm learning to just let that work. I have a long way to go toward relinquishing control, but being in a situation where I had no choice but to trust pushed me enough to have that light bulb flash.
ReplyDeleteLast week I found it difficult to find time to practice during my travels! However, thanks to my handy-dandy "Belt Box" I was able to warm up in empty studios while waiting around at auditions! It was very handy! Now that I am back, and not couch surfing, I am able to practice more regularly, although I am finding that I feel like I am potentially starting to get sick.... Fingers crossed that I say healthy!
ReplyDeleteFrom late elementary school through early high school, I struggled with sever acid reflux. For a long time I was on a prescrived medication for it, and then eventually my body began to adapt and I stopped struggling with it. Every few months I will have a few days where it bothers me, but beyond that I don't have many noticeable problems with it anymore.
ReplyDeleteThankfully, I am one of the only people in my class who has yet to catch this illness that is going around, and I hope to keep it that way.
Reflux is something that I know that my body has trouble with, I am hoping to try and curb my coffee intake but at this point and time it is keeping me going. I take daily medication to hopefully keep the acid reflux away from my money maker (i.e. the voice).
ReplyDeleteBut in all serious I know that managing my eating and my coffee intake is something that I really struggle with when stress creeps in. The last thing I want to do after a 12 hour day is forgo dinner and wake up in the morning with out coffee. BUT I really need to figure out some healthier ways of coping with my stress and some caffeine/coffee alternatives that are not so acidic.
I... don't know if I can commit to this?! I am always eating a sleeve of Oreos just prior to bed while watching Netflix. Perhaps I will give it up just for the sake of my career haha. I just have to commit to it. I don't usually have an issue with reflux, but I can't say if it happens during sleep that I'm not a victim of it... So perhaps that could be a reason for that dryness or tiredness feeling in the voice I've had recently... I will monitor it.
ReplyDeletePracticing has been going well.