Vocal Nodules

[DramaDork925]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 10:04pm

I fould out today I have vocal nodules and I was wondering if anyone else has had this problem and how (if you did) fix it. I'm starting with a vocal therapist next week. All I had heard about them was how Julie Andrews more or less ruined her voice after having them and I burst out crying in the doctors office (also because the straposgraphy killed...) because if I lose my voice, it would be the equivalent of losing a leg or an arm. So please give me hope!!!

[Pinguin]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 10:58pm

I've never had them, but I wanted to share my condolences...that's so terrible, I'm sorry!

I will, say, however, that I do know people who have been able to recover fairly well from them...good luck!

[Calvin]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:37pm

Keep in mind that in Julie's case, wasn't the surgery botched or something like that? I remember she was suing for malpractice, but I don't remember how it turned out.

Like Pinguin, I know lots of people who've had them and you'd never know now. So think positive!

[Broadway_Baby]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:39pm

I'm sorry.

Updated On: 11/21/05 at 11:39 PM

[amasis]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:41pm

There was a thread about this on the main board a few months ago. Try doing a search and see if you can find it... there were some very good advice on that thread, as I recall.

[Yawper]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:52pm

Julie Andrews had a cyst, not nodes. She'd had it for decades but when she started having problems during V/V a doctor convinced her that removing the cyst *might* improve things a little. Hers really was an elective surgery and it didn't heal well. Every time she tried to sing there was hemorrhaging.

Nodes - it depends whether hard or soft. Think of them as blisters - if still soft they can go away with rest - if hard then they're more problematic - either way you need to learn how to avoid the irritation that causes them

[amasis]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:53pm

Oh, this is the thread i was thinking about:

https://forum.broadwayworld.com/readmessage.cfm?boardname=off&thread=860471

[BrendanStryker]

Posted: 11/21/05 at 11:57pm

Julie's issue was that she had a cyst, which had been around since her 3 1/2 years doing Eliza in MY FAIR LADY. What saved her voice for so long was her ability to allow it the proper rest. Her stint in CAMELOT put no real strain on her cords, because the show was so easy for her to sing. MFL is a far more demanding show, vocally. In fact, no other Eliza comes close to performing the role as many times as Julie, because it is so vocally demanding (singing in chest, head and screaming, etc.) Then she did films, and only an occasional concert, so her cords got lots of rest. When she did VICTOR/VICTORIA, she was on the road for an entire year, prior to its Broadway opening, so that by the time the show opened on Broadway, her cyst was causing vocal problems. She went another year and a half, singing with a voice that should have had rest. She was scheduled to take V/V to Houston, and a doctor advised her that she could have surgery and repair her voice. Of course, the surgery was botched and her voice was destroyed. She sued and won millions. Bottom-line; give your cords, lots of rest!

[bwaysinger]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:02am

It's still more than just rest. Nodes are like calluses and that's unhealthy for your throat, obviously.
Many people can cure them through therapy alone; it teaches you techniques to ease the kind of tension that causes your cords to rub together and form the nodes. For some, surgery or other forms of therapy are neccesary.
The truth is it can permanently affect and sometimes ruin your voice. But, just as often, you can heal them and come out as good or even better than before.
Many wonderful singers (or rather, people with amazing voices) have gone through nodule scares and you'd hardly know it now.

[brdlwyr]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:06am

What is straposgraphy?

[touchmeinthemorning]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 11:07am

I assume she meant endoscopy?

The trick with any sort of vocal problem is that it is a wake-up call -- you can never again treat your voice they way it has been treated. So, work to rest more, eat better, sing healthier, and be mature about how you use your voice.

[singingwendy]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 12:35pm

And make sure the doctor you are going to knows you're a singer. That your voice is your job. It's as if you sprained your ankle....they'd treat you one way if you were a "regular" person, but another way if you were a professional athlete.

And I second what everyone else says. Get together with a good voice person who can teach you how to prevent it from happening again.

Good luck!

[DramaDork925]

Posted: 11/22/05 at 6:22pm

::shrug:: I could've sworn my mom said straposgraphy, knowing me I just heard it wrong.

I'm a little less worried now, thanks everyone. I'm thinking of possibly dropping Jazz Choir because the way we sing couldn't possibly help me get rid of the nodules and not singing unless I'm practicing, in rehearsals or in performance. I'm figuring that will help quite a bit.