Choking feeling in throat after singing, help!!

[hamster139]

Hi. Im a fairly new singer but have made incredible progress using voice-level singing techniques. I'm fairly certain Im singing correctly, and am keeping my throat very open and relaxed and everything sounds very smoothe and connected.

 

However after certain days of practicing... typically when Im practicing very high head voice, I initially feel fine, but later in the day, when I am eating, I start choking... even when I eat carefully. I definitely feel my throat has become constricted, and it is now becoming scary.

 

I dont know exactly what is causing it, since sometimes I can go weeks without it happening... but then it comes back.

 

I dont want to have to stop singing, but somehow I need this all to stop.

Thanks for any advice.

[grace_slick]

This is interesting...I think you're doing something somehow while you're singing that is causing your vocal cords to become somewhat...not PARALYSED but...

 

My dad has this disorder right now. We don't know why, but he's finished having heaps of tests that showed it's not anything they are aware causes this...the only thing is, he had a virus 2 months ago and this has done something to his voice we think. So now they're paralysed and he has no voice whatsoever (he just whispers, which is a shame cause he had a lovely speaking/singing voice), and also chokes on liquids. Nobody knows if it'll fix itself. *sigh of sadness*

 

So. I'm not saying you're like this at all, but if you're choking on food after singing sometimes...well...this tends to happen when the vocal folds don't come together properly to block the throat so food goes down "the right way" so to speak...

 

I'd go and see either a doctor or a singing teacher and ask them about it.

[hamster139]

 

This is interesting...I think you're doing something somehow while you're singing that is causing your vocal cords to become somewhat...not PARALYSED but... My dad has this disorder right now. We don't know why, but he's finished having heaps of tests that showed it's not anything they are aware causes this...the only thing is, he had a virus 2 months ago and this has done something to his voice we think. So now they're paralysed and he has no voice whatsoever (he just whispers, which is a shame cause he had a lovely speaking/singing voice), and also chokes on liquids. Nobody knows if it'll fix itself. *sigh of sadness* So. I'm not saying you're like this at all, but if you're choking on food after singing sometimes...well...this tends to happen when the vocal folds don't come together properly to block the throat so food goes down "the right way" so to speak... I'd go and see either a doctor or a singing teacher and ask them about it.

 

 

Thanks for the response.

 

I need to clarify that I dont think the food gets stuck going down the wrong pipe (I could be wrong though). It feels like eating gobs and gobs of peanut butter that gets lodged in there, giving that horribly uncomfortable fealing. I AM still able to breath, but I am getting the choking sensation. If its bad, I have to throw up (Happened today), if its not-so-bad, water can push it down.

 

Does extreme inflammation cause paralyzing-like symptoms? Im just speculating here, since I know nothing about the dynamics of the throat.

[grace_slick]

Oh my god, throw up!? Wow...I'd go and see someone, definitely...

 

Extreme inflammation would cause the vocal folds to swell which can make your throat / airway / foodway narrower...that's probably what's happening here more than paralysis of any sort...

[grace_slick]

It also sort of sounds like your tongue/swallowing mechanism isn't able to properly push the food fully down your throat...it reminds me of me trying to swallow tablets. I've got a mental block about it and can't do it. They sit in my mouth, on my tongue, until I swallow but it doesn't quite go down and then I sometimes gag. LOVELY! lol

 

I still think it's more to do with your vocal folds being inflamed BUT have you ever had this type of sensation when swallowing/eating before singing with any frequency/intensity? If so, it may be something more to do with your tongue or something...

[hamster139]

Thanks for the responses.

 

No I never got this until I started singing... so I know the 2 are related.

 

I am very depressed about this, since my progress was unbelievable. Should I sing with less volume? (I actually sing pretty quietly) or should I stay away from high pitch singing?

 

I will see a doctor if it continues, but I just wanted to see if this was something that happens to other singers, and how they might cope with it.

[JohnBenussi]

 

Hi. Im a fairly new singer but have made incredible progress using voice-level singing techniques. I'm fairly certain Im singing correctly, and am keeping my throat very open and relaxed and everything sounds very smoothe and connected. However after certain days of practicing... typically when Im practicing very high head voice, I initially feel fine, but later in the day, when I am eating, I start choking... even when I eat carefully. I definitely feel my throat has become constricted, and it is now becoming scary. I dont know exactly what is causing it, since sometimes I can go weeks without it happening... but then it comes back. I dont want to have to stop singing, but somehow I need this all to stop. Thanks for any advice.

 

 

This has happened to me before, keep in mind I've no vocal training/professional lessons so I can attribute this to: Doing it Wrong!

However I'd get a choking feeling during singing, not while eating.

 

Let your voice rest. It sounds like you're not used to doing this, or your voice isn't, rather. It only happened when I tried too hard to sing raspy.

 

Hasn't happened in years:thu:

[grace_slick]

Johnny, I too get the choking feeling during singing. It feels like my vocal cords are rubbing together badly. Blegh. It happened to me at all times except when I'd sing low down in my range (in that base tone we've discussed)

 

Hamster, you shouldn't need to sing quieter if you're singing correctly, you know? And if you say you're singing quietly already, well...it seems you're straining your voice using the incorrect technique somewhere even when singing quietly. I really think the vocal folds are swollen/inflamed and it's causing the throat to be slightly more closed than usual...

[hamster139]

 

This has happened to me before, keep in mind I've no vocal training/professional lessons so I can attribute this to: Doing it Wrong! However I'd get a choking feeling during singing, not while eating. Let your voice rest. It sounds like you're not used to doing this, or your voice isn't, rather. It only happened when I tried too hard to sing raspy. Hasn't happened in years:thu:

 

 

Thanks all.

 

Im starting to think that it is inflammation, and Im glad I found another person who had it. Should I drink more water if it is? Chew gum?

 

Also, I think my situation is different than yours was. My voice has no pressure... Its effortless, no stress, no akward feeling, no raspyness... and the symptoms dont arrise till later. Its very by-the-book for the most part. Im not saying Im doing it right... I know Im doing SOMETHING wrong, just dont know what it is.

 

Maybe the damage is from when I do scales to increase range... especially when I go unnecessarily too high or too low. Is this dangerous?

 

The day I got it worst was yesterday, and a couple hours before, I was trying to sing very low vocal fry and sing up to very high whistle voice. I was doing this for stupid reasons (Copying Brett Manning, bragging rights).... and if this does NOT help anything for the notes in between, I will stop it right away.

 

I also did a big no-no and raised my larynx to get a few notes higher on the whistle range (stupid stupid stupid stupid).

[grace_slick]

I don't think (for me anyway) trying to stretch your range is dangerous. For me if I go too low for too long nothing happens. I just can't reach the notes I want. If I go to high for too long on the other hand, I find my throat feels coated with stuff and swollen around the neck/throat area. Maybe this is happening but much more extreme for you?

 

People's larynxes are being incorrectly raised all the time. It's not good but still shouldn't lead to your problems. I'd go to a singing teacher ASAP, man.

[romvert]

It's hard to say without a listen, but I'll take a crack and say there's at least a couple of reasons. Constricted throat will do it sometimes; also don't forget that your swallowing muscles are involved to some degree... if you don't use enough breath, and depress the larynx too much, it could feel awkwardly uncomfortable. If you scream your highs, or belt too much - another couple. Remember SLS is about zipping those folds up at the top of the range... no screaming; the voice actually feels "smaller" as through a pin prick, if that makes any sense. I would quit singing the high stuff, and see if it makes a difference. Give it some time, these things take time to heal/adjust.

[slade]

Are you making a point of keeping your throat hydrated while singing? all that air can dry things up pretty bad. Also it can be important to give your voice time to rest. Maybe skip a day. I don't know if this will help, its just what comes to mind first.

[Consume]

 

Hi. Im a fairly new singer but have made incredible progress using voice-level singing techniques. I'm fairly certain Im singing correctly, and am keeping my throat very open and relaxed and everything sounds very smoothe and connected. However after certain days of practicing... typically when Im practicing very high head voice, I initially feel fine, but later in the day, when I am eating, I start choking... even when I eat carefully. I definitely feel my throat has become constricted, and it is now becoming scary. I dont know exactly what is causing it, since sometimes I can go weeks without it happening... but then it comes back. I dont want to have to stop singing, but somehow I need this all to stop. Thanks for any advice.

 

 

 

It sounds like it is tension in your throat.

Lightly massage your throat before and after you sing. Gargle with some water, and take a towel and grab your tongue and slowly pull it out of your mouth to help release the tension.

 

One of the guys over at Jaime Vendera's board (Skullsplitter) went through something similar and he posted about it. He spent almost a year going through what you are, or something similar, and he said it turned out to be tension from practicing all these throat exercises to develop the muscles in your throat, and he never did any kind of tension release.

 

Think about it this way - it is like lifting weights constantly without taking any time to rest - then when you do rest, the overuse (in this case, tension) causes a charlie horse in the muscles (tightens up the throat making it hard to swallow)....

 

1.Suck on your bottom lip for 1 second. Repeat 50 times.

This lowers your larynx.

 

2.At the point where the base of your chin meets the neck, lightly press in with a finger. Take your tongue and press it against the bottom teeth.

Press the back of your tongue OUT, like you are trying to expand your throat like a bullfrog.

 

or, if you are more masochistic than that (lol), stick your finger down your throat, hook it on the base of your tongue just above the epiglotis, and push it toward the front of your throat....then press in from the outside making the muscle contract between your fingers.

[grace_slick]

OW!!! That sounds SO unpleasant! I got as far as the sucking on the bottom lip. lol

[JetCityMatt]

To lower your larynx Roger Love teaches talking like Yogi Bear (you know, " hey hey hey boo boo"), which works great. He also says that doing scales in that crazy voice that causes the low larynx is the BEST way to heal the vocal chords he has ever seen- even better than not talking or singing at all. And he's right.

[hamster139]

man, you guys are spot on. I think every post has helped me a little bit. I will try everything.

 

YES YOU ARE ABSOULTELY RIGHT Consume. I wasnt taking breaks... I was so unbeleivably happy last week... since everything clicked... and my breaks were completely erased.... and I just kept singing and singing... every day, every hour.... every song I could think of....

 

I will try all those tensions release exercises.

 

Ive stopped singing for 2 days now... and it feels MUCH better.

 

The yogi bear works well... also... Patrick Star (From spongebob has helped me keep the larynx low) and Bullwinkle as well. I normally never raise it... I acted stupidly to 'cheat' and get an extra couple notes on the head voice... and it immediately felt awful and akward. Never again.

[grace_slick]

No breaks definitely hurts your voice/throat. Many years ago when I was about 20 I was obsessed with the Spice Girls (feel free to laugh, lol), and was singing along with their songs SO loudly (the stereo was up so loud I couldn't even hear the phone ringing right next to me), and I sang for hours and hours with no break, singing all the different parts so there wasn't even a break in the songs themselves to rest for 5 seconds, and drinking no water...oh dear. lol

 

I just tried the yogi bear...it felt normal. lol

[BigVoiceTenor]

Unless I missed it in the posts....at any point do you feel like you have a lump in your throat? Nothing major perhaps but if you placed lightly one of your fingers on the base of your throat and pressed a bit below the Adam's Apple, do you get that sensation?

 

Do you find that sipping on a liquid helps alleviate the tension or irritation?

[hamster139]

 

Unless I missed it in the posts....at any point do you feel like you have a lump in your throat? Nothing major perhaps but if you placed lightly one of your fingers on the base of your throat and pressed a bit below the Adam's Apple, do you get that sensation? Do you find that sipping on a liquid helps alleviate the tension or irritation?

 

 

No lump or nodule or anything like that.. thank god. I am definitely going to drink more fluids, since I want to be very cautious in general.

 

Based upon everything that Ive read, Im pretty sure that my issue is with overworking/straining my throat muscles. I was completely ignorant to this before. I will do basic warmups and warmdowns and do messaging techniques, etc.

 

Now that Im focusing on this, I notice my throat muscles are actually the MOST stressed when I try to go very low and sound overly dopey (which is ironically when my vocal chords feel the most relaxed). I was purposely trying to strain this dopiness in the throat so that it would train my muscles.. when I shoulda been trying to keep it relaxed. This, combined with the fact that I have never 'worked out' these muscles before is what has caused all of this.

 

Now, it feels like I have been lifting weights with my throat. The sensation is of muscle exhaustion/stress is the same. But no more choking thank god. All is good, and I'll start singing again soon.. Thanks all!!!

[grace_slick]

Wow, that really interests me...that you can feel all those sensations in your throat and voice! I don't really ever get much of anything...just a vague tension, a sort of full/swollen feeling if I've sung too much...yeah.

[hamster139]

 

Wow, that really interests me...that you can feel all those sensations in your throat and voice! I don't really ever get much of anything...just a vague tension, a sort of full/swollen feeling if I've sung too much...yeah.

 

 

I dont know how common it is, but its not something I ever felt before, at least until I started practicing Speech Level Singing. IN general SLS is a very healthy approach to singing and its very effective, ... only I think I just overdid it, and didnt give it a rest.

[JetCityMatt]

So did you do special non-singing exercises that are designed to build up the muscle in your throat - as opposed to practicing scales and other types of singing?

If so, that is completely unnecessary. And is what caused this problem.

 

Or is speech level singing all you did?

[hamster139]

 

So did you do special non-singing exercises that are designed to build up the muscle in your throat - as opposed to practicing scales and other types of singing? If so, that is completely unnecessary. And is what caused this problem. Or is speech level singing all you did?

 

 

About 98% SLS and 2% non-singing, trying to train my muscles.

[stevieb]

There may be some good advise here, but I see one thing missing, at least from the post I read:

SEE A PROFESSIONAL. YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY DOING SOMETHING WRONG, WILL PROBABLY PERMANENTLY DAMAGE YOUR VOCAL CHORDS IF YOU CONTINUE TO DO IT, AND EVERYONE HERE IS EITHER UNQUALIFIED TO DIAGNOSE IT (THAT INCLUDES ME) OR AT A REAL DISADVANTAGE BECAUSE THEY CAN NOT SEE AND HEAR WHAT YOU ARE DOING.

 

Yeah, it will cost you some money. Buck up and pay it. If you truly do have a good voice, it will be the best money you every spent.

[grace_slick]

I said to see a professional!! I said go to see either a doctor and/or a singing teacher!!! lol.

 

Anyway...I don't think we need to do ANYTHING apart from proper, guided singing exercises to get the voice good...what kinds of things were you doing in that 2% non-singing related exercises?