Over-singing means pushing your voice to the point where it is effortful. That means, when there is too much of breath pressure through the larynx. When there is too much of air pressure, the vocal folds work too hard, hence the overproduction of sound.
Even if you are not a singer, can you think of incidences where you have used your voice too much? For example, if you are a teacher, politician, or managing director, who simply uses your voice over the top?
People try to oversing when they have not had proper training. Examples of over-singers are people who use their voices to belt out songs. The following names might sound familiar to you: Mariah Carey, Whitney Houston, Christina Aguilera, Kelly Clarkson, Ariana Grande and Celine Dion are some of the many that use over-singing and belting.
Over-singing without proper breath control will result in vocal nodules and all sorts of vocal problems. Hence it is imperative that you have a hang of proper breathing techniques, be it when singing or talking.
Recent research done by Massachusetts General Hospital revealed that at least 80 of the 240 Grammy award nominees, suffered vocal cord damage, and 90 % of those injuries resulted from vocal trauma and overuse. The study also found that not only professional singers injured their voices, so did people in other professions: teaching, law, broadcasting and others that require prolonged speaking. The report also stated the importance of considering emotional and psychological factors when treating voice injuries.
Just like how amateur athletes can benefit from lessons for professional athletes, so can non – singers. When you do feel your voice is not performing to its usual level, for over a month, you should seek out specialist care for vocal cord function.
I came across this website, which treats celebrity singers, and was even more amazed at the number of singers who had gone for surgery, due to injuries from over singing. Adele was mentioned, and her recovery to her singing voice was described in detail here as well.
Amazing things happen when you take care of your voice. And injuries happen when you don’t take care of your voice, due to over singing. Do you know of other celebrity singers or actors who have lost their voice?