Voice rest means not using the voice for a certain period of time. The aim here is to heal the damage to the tissue covering the vocal cords. These injuries are often due to overuse or misuse of the voice (such as speaking loudly or shouting for long periods of time, crying violently, singing while sick, or performing challenging speaking performance), or surgical interventions on the vocal cords.
How is voice rest performed?
During voice rest, the person DOES NOT USE his voice AT ALL. It is necessary not only not to talk, but also not to whisper, not to hum, not to sing, not to whistle. Additionally, behaviors that may irritate the vocal cords, such as throat clearing and coughing, should be avoided.
What is the duration of vocal rest?
Although the duration of vocal rest is decided according to the person and the degree of damage to the vocal cords. It varies roughly between 3 and 10 days. Voice therapy may be necessary to change inappropriate voice usage habits after voice rest and to prevent recurrence of damage to the vocal cords.
Voice rest after voice surgery
After vocal cord microsurgery, patients are treated for 3 to 3 days. Voice rest may be given for 10 days. The aim here is to “not use the voice at all” as stated above. Then, the period of "partial voice rest" begins, in which voice use is gradually increased.
The duration of voice rest recommended after voice surgery, the period of gradual transition to voice use, and voice care are not standard. It is determined and applied individually for each patient, depending on the intervention performed during the surgery, the location and type of the lesion, the patient's voice needs, and the intensity of voice use before surgery. In the voice therapy sessions to be applied before surgery, the patient is taught in detail about voice rest and gradual transition to voice use.
In professional voice users (singer, actor, teacher, call center employee, etc.), in patients with large and deep-seated vocal cord lesions. It may take 30-60 days for the transition to unrestricted voice use after voice surgery.
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