Steam and/or Semi-occluded Vocal Tract Exercise as Morning Vocal Warm-up Strategy

• Published in: Journal of voice 2022-09, Vol.36 (5), p.734-734.e13
• Main Authors: Keltz, Andrew, McHenry, Monica
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Phonatory threshold pressure; Professional voice user; SOVT; Superficial hydration
• ISSN: 0892-1997; 1873-4588
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jvoice.2020.08.037

This study was designed to evaluate the effectiveness of either steam, semi-occluded vocal tract (SOVT) exercises, or a combination of both as a speaking voice warm-up strategy to be used at the start of the day. This prospective study assessed the impact of three different vocal warm-up conditions on phonatory threshold pressure (PTP). The three conditions were: (1) Steam - breathing steam for 3 minutes; (2) SOVT exercise - blowing bubbles through a straw into a cup of water while phonating /u/ for 3 minutes; and (3) Steam + SOVT - both conditions 1 and 2. Participants were 12 females with a mean age of 24. They were assessed on three different mornings, with one condition being tested each morning. Condition order and combination order were counterbalanced. Each morning prior to arriving, participants were asked to be up for about an hour, with no shower, no hot drinks or food, minimal voice-use, and no exercise. PTP was measured prior to each condition and immediately after. Participants also qualitatively described the experience of each condition and provided their subjective impression of how their voice felt after each condition. There were 36 data points, reflecting change in PTP from before to after each condition. Results reflected high variability within each individual and condition. Due to this variability, means and standard deviations for each separate condition are meaningless, requiring deeper investigation into trends in the data. The investigators eliminated all data points where the sound pressure level (SPL) in the pre-experimental measure exceeded 67 dB; this was interpreted as the participant not performing the PTP task as softly as possible. First, data were examined within each participant, excluding all data from any participant who exceeded 67 dB SPL in any of the three pre-experimental measures. Of the seven participants remaining, steam was the best condition for one, SOVT was the best for three, and Steam + SOVT was the best for three. Of these, only two people experienced an improvement in PTP of greater than or equal to 0.5 cm H 2 O, both under the SOVT condition. Of the same seven participants, steam was the worst condition for three, SOVT was the worst for one, and Steam + SOVT was the worst for two. The three participants for whom steam was the worst reported strongly disliking the condition. Only three people experienced a worsening of PTP greater than or equal to 0.5 cm H 2 O: one in the SOVT condition; and two in the S