The REAL Reason Why You’re Feeling Throat Tightness

If you are experiencing throat tightness when speaking, let me explain why this is happening to you. But more importantly what you can start doing about it right now. You don’t want to miss this because I am going to be very honest with you.

Because I work with people who experience vocal strain, tension or even pain when talking, I hear about throat tightness all the time. It’s one of the most common complaints I see in people with functional vocal issues, such as Muscle Tension Dysphonia. Some people describe the feeling as their throat closing up, or the need to squeeze the sound out, or their voice getting squished. Some people even describe the feeling as being strangled.

What Have You Tried?

When I ask these people what they’ve tried to release that tension, many of them tell me: I drink plenty of fluids and I steam every day and the tightness does not go away. Some of them tell me that they stopped using their voice completely and went on a vocal rest for a week. But after a week of not talking, the tension is right back.

I also spoke to a few people who were so confused by the whole experience, that they gave up, did not do anything and just waited for the tension to go away. Well, not surprisingly, it did not.

That's why I'm going to explain why you may be experiencing throat tightness. And I will give you some tips on how to start dealing with it. And let’s be real here. It’s not going to go away by itself. 

Throat Tightness 

There are two major groups of causes that can lead to throat tightness. 

Group #1 Neurological problems

This basically means that your throat muscles receive abnormal signals from your brain. There is a disconnect between your brain and the throat muscles, which are working at the exact time when they are supposed to be relaxed.

Examples of such vocal issues are:

• Vocal Cord Dysfunction,
• Spasmodic Dysphonia,
• Paradoxical Vocal Fold Movement,
• Laryngeal Dystonia.

If this is you, speak to your laryngologist about possible solutions. I will be very transparent with you: this is not my area of expertise.

Group #2 Functional problems

The second cause of throat tightness is a functional problem, which means that the laryngeal muscles either work too much or unnecessarily. They develop motor patterns which trigger muscle constriction automatically. This is a learned pattern that started in the past, but now became your habitual or normal pattern.  Maybe it all started with a common cold or flu, during which you continued to use your voice with more force. Or it started with a highly demanding vocal schedule that led to overworked voice, strain and tightness that never went away.

Or it started with a lot of stress or even an emotional trauma in your life and transformed into a voice problem with a tight throat. You may not even be aware of when or why it started but you ended up with a voice that triggers tension as soon as you start talking. If this sounds like you, let me tell you what is really going on in your throat and what to do about it.

Vocal Tension

Tension is created when there is either two much muscle action, muscle effort or muscle work or too many muscles work at the same time, including the muscles that are not required for a given vocal task. 

Watch the video below to do an experiment with me to show you how tension is transferred.

Solution?

Hopefully, now you can see why hydration by itself is not the answer, why vocal rest will not help at all or why waiting will not bring any release. The only solution is to re-learn how to use your voice in a more efficient way that does not invite tension. Basically, you want to develop new motor patterns that will work without too much muscle effort or without engaging too many muscles unnecessarily. 

Of course, this is not an easy and quick fix. It requires commitment on your side. But let me give you quick tips on how to start.

Muscle Effort

If you are dealing with too much muscle work, then focus on monitoring muscle effort. I like to use scales from 1 to 10. For example, when you do a simple vocal task, always ask yourself: on a scale from 1 to 10, how much muscle effort am I using? What would happen if I used less or more effort? How would it feel? What number do I need to use to feel less tension?

Isolation

In our group coaching program, my clients also work on isolating the function of different vocal structures and learn how to use them independently of each other. For example, we work on breathing without creating tension in the throat at the level of the vocal folds, or we make sounds without creating tension in the jaw or tongue. Or we make sounds that feel easy at the level of the vocal folds but buzzy in the face without tension in the neck muscles. Or we produce resonant sounds while articulating words without tongue tension. These are just a few examples of exercises that lead to release of throat tightness when speaking.

 If you are experiencing vocal strain, tension or even pain when speaking, and you are ready to work with me towards a free, strong and confident voice, you can apply to our Vocal Freedom System coaching program. Click here to schedule a chat with me. 

 Link to video: https://youtu.be/xfhNKFGSsfk