Look ma, no tonsils!
December 30, 2005 12:26 AM Subscribe
How can a tonsillectomy affect one's singing voice?
My doctor recommended that I get my tonsils out. I have tonsillitis and my tonsils are about 4x the size of regular tonsils. I googled and got a million different answers, so I was wondering if anyone has any real experiences or knowledge they can share. I have a vocal pathologist I can talk with, but she is unavailable at the moment.
Also, I am by no means a professional singer. I sing backup in my band and have never had any sort of vocal lessons.
My doctor recommended that I get my tonsils out. I have tonsillitis and my tonsils are about 4x the size of regular tonsils. I googled and got a million different answers, so I was wondering if anyone has any real experiences or knowledge they can share. I have a vocal pathologist I can talk with, but she is unavailable at the moment.
Also, I am by no means a professional singer. I sing backup in my band and have never had any sort of vocal lessons.
I had my tonsils taken out in March of this year and I can no longer roll my R's which pretty much ruins my any speaking in spanish or making a cool machine gun sound for my kids.
Other than that, getting my tonsils out has been one of the best things I have ever done for my health. It was the most painful thing I have ever done in my life but was worth all three weeks of excruating pain.
posted by captainzero at 7:07 AM on December 30, 2005
Other than that, getting my tonsils out has been one of the best things I have ever done for my health. It was the most painful thing I have ever done in my life but was worth all three weeks of excruating pain.
posted by captainzero at 7:07 AM on December 30, 2005
You may not be able to get any satisfactory answers on this - I'm sure many results are changes that aren't necessarily good or bad unless the person who was changed minds. So if you were really attached to exactly how you sound now, you might be bothered by any change, even if every other person on the planet thought you sounded better afterwards.
What I can tell you for certain is that as a person who had horribly enlarged tonsils most of his life and didn't have them out till his 30s... WELL worth it. It was an unpleasant healing process and I can only hope my childhood doctor has to pay in the afterlife for the week of extra unpleasantness he cost me. But I still am amazed at how easily I swallow, almost two years later, and I have had no throat illnesses in that time where I normally would have had two or three.
posted by phearlez at 9:21 AM on December 30, 2005
What I can tell you for certain is that as a person who had horribly enlarged tonsils most of his life and didn't have them out till his 30s... WELL worth it. It was an unpleasant healing process and I can only hope my childhood doctor has to pay in the afterlife for the week of extra unpleasantness he cost me. But I still am amazed at how easily I swallow, almost two years later, and I have had no throat illnesses in that time where I normally would have had two or three.
posted by phearlez at 9:21 AM on December 30, 2005
I would recommend checking with your ENT's office to see if someone specializes in Vocal Health if you are really concerned. I work in an ENT department and we have a Vocal Health Center that works with professionals - their [semi-self link] website states this:
A specialty clinic for vocal professionals is also available at the Vocal Health Center, where care is coordinated between a Laryngologist, Speech Pathologist, and Voice Training Specialist.
Feel free to e-mail me if you would like me to see if our they have a recommendation for your area.
posted by blackkar at 10:10 AM on December 30, 2005
A specialty clinic for vocal professionals is also available at the Vocal Health Center, where care is coordinated between a Laryngologist, Speech Pathologist, and Voice Training Specialist.
Feel free to e-mail me if you would like me to see if our they have a recommendation for your area.
posted by blackkar at 10:10 AM on December 30, 2005
This thread is closed to new comments.
Second, mention this to your ENT and see what he says.
Third, in the past (i.e. the 60's), tonsils were removed routinely in almost any case of tonsillar enlargement. These days, its uncommon to remove tonsils unless they are so large they are obstructing the airway, and also chronically. So, removing your tonsils will allow you to breathe easier, which should help improve your singing quite a bit. But, like bone suggested, full recovery could be weeks or a couple of months.
posted by gilgul at 2:04 AM on December 30, 2005