Pastor John B – Case Study: From a Virus to Laryngitis to Vocal Cord Paralysis…
Sometime between the year 2009 and 2010, we got approached by a pastor from Atlanta Georgia USA. According to him, he had a lot of speaking and singing engagements around the world; and after many years of doing it (obviously not using proper voice/vocal technique), he ended up with one of his vocal cords paralyzed.
Upon arrival to our studio/clinic, he told us a story about how his ordeal started; with a simple cold/virus which turned into laryngitis which, in turn, caused raspiness and hoarseness – not to mention extreme pain in his throat. He, however, disregarded all of the described-above symptoms and, nonetheless, went on his merry way continuing the quite-intensive speaking and singing engagements around the world. Unfortunately, (obviously, it was meant to happen), after doing all of that, his vocal cord(s) stopped obeying him completely.
When he went to the ENT specialist to find out why, evidently, it was too late, as he got diagnosed with a paralyzed vocal cord. He stopped singing, but still was trying to talk and did so until the point of no return…. Sad…? Indeed! I was able to help him a great deal with his speech, but he did not give me enough time to work on his singing – which, frankly, even I was not totally sure I could actually return his singing voice to functioning completely normal…
Even though, with my specially-designed speech and singing exercises (And I know how to go around the vocal anatomy), his case was too far gone, as he did not stop speaking ( and especially singing) on time before the vocal cord got paralyzed.
When I was “entering” into his vocal anatomy for his singing voice, it felt always like he was hitting a wall which, in turn, was not allowing him to re-channel the sound of his voice to the place which is called the “resonator” or, colloquially-speaking, a natural “human amplifier”. The aforementioned part of such anatomy is located within the set of one’s facial muscles (sinus cavities). However, If I was able to restructure his sound to those facial muscles, I would be able to get his voice structured, placed and projected; and thus recreate his singing voice… Clearly and unfortunately, it was to no avail.
So the moral of this case study is:
If something, God forbid, happens to you or yours, please do not ignore any unusual symptoms right from the very beginning. Because if you do, you may forever lose your gift which God granted you… If you feel unusual discomfort within your vocal anatomy, stop speaking excessively and loudly.
And definitely, especially if you are a singer… STOP SINGING RIGHT THERE AND THEN…! Seek appropriate help before you resume your regular behaviour concerning your voice use!
On this note, we hope that you will never need our services; and therefore, we will never have to meet you…, but if you do need us at any time, we will be your one-stop destination for your voice recovery and, if required, your general health restoration and enhancement!