How does alcohol consumption affect the voice

What is alcohol and how is it obtained?

The term alcohol is currently used to name any psychotropic active ingredient in alcoholic beverages. Moreover, alcohol is universally regarded as a psychotropic substance, since it has been used since the beginning of time, even before the appearance of mankind.

Alcohol is obtained by distilling fruit juices after fermentation or from starchy materials such as flour, sugar beet, sugar cane or cellulose. In this way we produce different alcohols: from grapes we obtain wine and cognac, from apples cider, from beets Pastis, from sugar cane rum, from barley beer and whiskey, from rice sake and from potatoes vodka.

What are the effects of alcohol on our body?

Alcohol leads to psychological and physical dependence in case of prolonged consumption. It is a drug, i.e. it is a substance capable of disturbing our state of consciousness. It is therefore very important to be aware of the different effects that alcohol can have on us:

  • Heat effect: we usually think that alcohol warms our organism, but actually the opposite is true. In fact, alcohol produces a cooling effect on our organism due to the dilation of the vessels.
  • Anesthetizing effect: the heat felt in the mouth, throat and esophagus is caused by the effect of alcohol. This is why alcohol is sometimes used as an anesthetic. However, just because the symptoms diminish does not mean that the pain has disappeared.
  • Euphoria, disinhibition or relaxation: depending on the person, alcohol causes a relaxing or euphoric effect due to its disinhibiting character. So it ends up disturbing our perception and our reflexes.

Alcohol, voice and femininity

Did you know that the vocal cords and the mucous membranes that surround them are made up of 90% water? With this fact, and knowing that alcohol dehydrates (whenever we ingest it, the next day our body only asks for water), we can get an idea of how this substance alters the clarity and quality of our voice.

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The disinhibition caused by alcohol can produce an extra strain on the vocal cords and in turn vocal fatigue. This fatigue will also be increased by the dehydration of the mucous membranes, which will cause a hemorrhage at the level of the vocal cords.

As far as the voice is concerned, we will dangerously fail to protect it from the cold and we will force it without realizing it, which will eventually lead to voice extinction. In the event that the latter occurs regularly, we will suffer dire repercussions in our vocal gesture.

Beware of excessive consumption!

Excessive alcohol consumption can cause vasodilatation zones at the level of the laryngeal mucosa and consequently, edema that would affect the correct functioning of the vocal cords. Alcohol also increases the risk of gastroesophageal reflux. The latter is responsible for burns in the laryngeal area, hypersecretion of the vocal fold mucosa and all its consequences on the voice. In general, the effect of alcohol on the voice can be as harmful as that of tobacco.

After more than 15 years of experience in voice feminization and harmonization, I have to say that I have detected more damage caused by tobacco than by alcohol. However, knowing that voice feminization training lasts only two and a half months, I cannot guarantee that alcohol will not negatively affect the results obtained during subsequent speech therapy sessions.