Only carry out the exercises marked with a cross, under the guidance of your speech and language therapist. 

Practice these exercises:
  • Little and often throughout the day
  • Before and after periods of prolonged voice use
  • If the voice box feels tired and tight
  • Silent breath: Hold your hands over your ears and breathe in and out.  Now aim for silent breaths.
  • Silent giggle:  Laugh silently onto the palm of your hand.  Feel the outgoing breath concentrated in the centre of your palm (about the size of a 10p coin), now try to elongate the shape to a 6-inch ruler
  • Giggle: Laugh! This is good for the vocal cords and relaxes the throat
  • Stifled yawn:  We’ve all done it! Trying to suppress a yawn when someone is talking to us.  Keeping your lips together with light contact, drop the jaw backwards, the tongue goes back and you should feel a stretch and openness in the throat. 
  •  Yawn-sigh: Yawn with a gentle sigh.
  • Masako: Gently hold the tip of your tongue between your teeth and swallow.  To make it harder, stick your tongue halfway out, hold it between your teeth and swallow.  Make it harder still, stick your tongue right out, hold it between your teeth and swallow.
  • Tongue protrusion: Extend the tongue out of the mouth as far as possible and hold for 20 seconds.  Extend the tongue once again say ‘eee’, count from 1-5. 
  • Tongue compass: Extend the tongue out of the mouth and point it upwards, downwards, to the left and to then right. 
  • Jaw massage:  lightly massage in circular movements in a forward and backward direction
  • Jaw drop: drop your jaw a little, imagine you are holding a cork between your back teeth and hold it for 30 seconds.  Feel the space between your teeth.  Now lightly open the jaw, just enough that the cork would fall
  • Jaw lateral: open your mouth a little and now move your jaw from side to side, holding it for 10 seconds in each direction.
  • Chewing:  Try to imagine chewing a piece of toffee or gum, which increases in size with every chewing movement.   Cheek Pops: With closed lips, keep the air pressure within the mouth and blow the cheeks up.  Use your fingers to press against the cheeks and “pop” them, allowing the air to escape.  Try this with a voiced sound ‘b’.
  • Woop & Boom:  Firstly get a clear ‘ooo’ sound.  Glide the sound up, it can be easier doing this on a ‘woop’.  Feel the space in your oral cavity.  Release any tension in your throat.  Try to glide downwards on a ‘boom’.
  • Lip Trills:  First vibrate your lips as you breathe out; similar to the sound a horse makes so that their lips vibrate rapidly. Next, try the same trill, but add voice; similar to the sound of a car engine – ‘bbrrrrr’.  Now gently trill up to a high note and then back down.
  • Humming: Produce a ‘hmph’ sound down your nose as if disgusted at something.  Keep that going into a hum.  Bring the sound forward, feel the vibrations on your lips and on your nose.  Try and maintain this hum, going up and down in pitch.
  • Sirening:  Put your tongue in position for when you say “ng” as in the end of the word ‘sing’; keep your tongue in this position (sides of the tongue between the back teeth and the back of the tongue is high), now quietly glide up to a high note then back down.

Please use the following QR code or website link to access the video that accompanies this leaflet:

QR code

https://youtu.be/T6Wi4Gbn9TE

For further information
Contact details

 

North Cumbria Adult Speech and Language Therapy Department,

Room 1450, Lower Ground Floor, Cumberland Infirmary, Newtown Road, Carlisle, Cumbria, CA2 7HY

Tel: 01228 608332

Email: VoiceSLT@ncic.nhs.uk

 

North Cumbria Adult Speech and Language Therapy Department,

Level 4, West Cumberland Hospital, Homewood Road, Hensingham, Whitehaven, Cumbria, CA28 8JG

Tel: 01900 705082 (referral line)

Email: AdultSpeechTherapy-AllerdaleandCopeland@ncic.nhs.uk

Useful websites

Visit the NCIC Adult Speech and Language Therapy website at https://www.ncic.nhs.uk/services/speech-and-language-therapy

https://www.britishvoiceassociation.org.uk/ has free literature with advice on voice care.

We kindly thank the ENT SLT Team, Newcastle Upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust for permission to reproduce and share this advice sheet and video link.

Disclaimer: This publication is designed for the information of patients. Whilst every effort has been made to ensure accuracy, the information contained may not be comprehensive and patients should not act upon it without seeking professional advice.

Confidentiality

‘The Trust’s vision is to keep your information safe in our hands.’ We promise to use your information fairly and legally, and in-line with local and national policies. You have a right to understand how your information is used and you can request a copy of the information we hold about you at any time.

For further information on confidentiality contact the Information Governance Team:

Information.Governance@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 603961

Feedback

We appreciate and encourage feedback, which helps us to improve our services. If you have any comments, compliments or concerns to make about your care, please contact the Patient, Advice & Liaison Service:

pals@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 814008 or 01946 523818

If you would like to raise a complaint regarding your care, please contact the Complaints Department:

complaints@ncic.nhs.uk | 01228 936302