[Source: The National Institute on Deafness and Other Communications Disorders]

Teachers and professors, ministers, singers, lawyers, DJs, professional speakers, auctioneers, cheerleaders, and anyone else who talks, shouts, or sings for a living: you need to take care of your voice.

“Musicians protect their guitars in cases lined in velvet, but we use our voices repeatedly without any awareness at all,” says the NIDCD’s voice and speech program director, Lana Shekim, Ph.D. “We really should protect our voices, because we can’t replace them, whereas we can replace a guitar.”

On April 16, 2010, the American Academy of Otolaryngology–Head and Neck Surgery (AAO-HNS) and other organizations in the United States and around the world are celebrating World Voice Day.

The NIDCD joins the efforts of these organizations and encourages everyone to assess their vocal health and take action to improve or maintain good voice habits. Check out these NIDCD resources that you can share with your patients, clients, friends, and family members:

• Video: Learn more about your voice by watching a 5-minute videotaped conversation with Dr. Shekim, who discusses how the voice becomes damaged, what careers may make you more prone to voice problems, things you can do to protect your voice, and more.
• Interview and performance video: Read an interview with NIDCD-funded researcher Ingo R. Titze, Ph.D., a distinguished professor who has studied the human voice for more than 30 years. Also, watch a video of his performance with Pavarobotti, a voice simulator/singing robot created by Dr. Titze and colleagues.
• Written materials: Read NIDCD fact sheets on voice disorders and how we can protect our voices:
  Taking Care of Your Voice
  Vocal Abuse and Misuse
  Vocal Cord Paralysis
  Teachers: Take Care of Your Voice
  

Also, visit AAO-HNS’s special Web page created in celebration of this year’s World Voice Day.