Optimising Voice Quality through Nasal Hydration. What are the Implications for the Voice Community?
Tuesday 20th May 2025, 12:00 PM - 1:00 PM (London Time)
Vocal folds vibrate at extremely high frequencies. In males, the fundamental frequency (F0) averages around 125 Hz, and in females, around 250 Hz—equivalent to approximately 7,500 and 15,000 revolutions per minute (RPM), respectively. This RPM greatly exceeds, for example, the centrifuge of a washing machine spinning at 1400 RPM, or a car engine in acceleration, going between 3500 and 4000 RPM. That is the reason for which high-speed vibration causes significant friction on the tissues of the vocal folds, and if the mucosal layers are not in optimal condition, this can result in phonotrauma and vocal pathologies.
Thereby, the Vocal folds need a high degree of humidity to be able to vibrate at their normal high frequency. Hydration makes the tissue more flexible. The moisture of the tissue is one of the first factors that is lost when there is a pathology or when an unusual overload is suffered. Furthermore, hydration is one of the most effective measures to recovering function in emergency situations. For instance, voice professionals have to deal with stress, anxiety, fatigue, and changes in the environmental temperature. They endure dryness of the performance space, because of the air conditioning or the heating. All these factors affect the voice and can make performance more difficult.
Drinking water is excellent for the hydration of the whole body but it hydrates the vocal folds slowly. The ideal and fastest way to moisturize the vocal folds is directly through the respiratory system.
Researchers have proposed the use of nebulisers to superficially hydrate the vocal folds and boost vocal function (Vermeulen et al. 2021). In addition, we proposed another method of superficial hydration: nasal hydration using a damp gauze (Borragán et al., 2021) among other techniques, and we observe hydration effectivity.
This session will explore the different methods of hydration, and we will present our research findings and explore the implications for the voice community.
🏷️ Price £20 (UK VAT inclusive)
🎥 Recording automatically sent to all who book (even if you cannot attend live)
▶️ Rewatch as many times as you like
📜 Certificate of attendance available
María Borragán Salcines
María works in Centro de Foniatría y Logopedia (CFL) and teaches at University of Gimbernat-Cantabria, Santander (Spain). She is an expert on the PROEL method and in neuropathology.
Carles Expósito Rovira
Carles Expósito Rovira, PT, PhD and SLP student. He works in Fisio Taddeo, Palma (Spain) and Centro de Foniatría y Logopedia (CFL), Santander (Spain), and is an expert on the PROEL method.
Attend this course for as little as £22 as part of the Voice Professional Training CPD Award Scheme.
Learn MoreSorry, this is an archived short course...
We have plenty of upcoming short courses coming soon. See details of some of them below or look at the full list of short courses.
Thursday 19th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Thursday 26th February 2026
1:00 PM - 2:30 PM
(London Time)
Performing Pain: Vocal Health in Emotional Roles!
Louisa Morgan
How connected are acted emotions to our real-life emotions? Are they expressed differently? Do they feel different in the body? This 2-part course with Louisa Morgan looks at the potential impact of acted emotion on vocal health, why we should consider it as voice practitioners, and how to care for our performers needing to work with it.
Tuesday 24th February 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Incorporating CBT principles within vocal health and voice care
Dr Luke Aldridge-Waddon
Join Dr Luke Waddon as he introduces the principles and techniques within cognitive-behavioural therapy (CBT) in relation to the voice and voice care. He will discuss psychological factors relevant to the development and maintenance of voice disorders and how these might be approached from a cognitive-behavioural perspective. He will describe theoretical concepts and therapeutic components often used within CBT and consider how these might be applied when working with voice users.
Tuesday 3rd March 2026
5:00 PM - 7:00 PM
(London Time)
Sex differences in VOICE!
Dr Richard Lissemore
This two-hour workshop, led by performer, articulatory phoneticist, and voice physiologist, Dr. Richard Lissemore, will examine in detail the role that biological sex plays in the perception and pedagogy of singing voices. We'll consider how parameters such as anatomy, physiology, articulation, resonance, and radiated acoustics influence the perceptions and pedagogical decision-making of singing teachers.