Vocal rest or voice rest is the process of resting the

vocal folds In humans, the vocal cords, also known as vocal folds, are folds of throat tissues that are key in creating sounds through Speech, vocalization. The length of the vocal cords affects the pitch of voice, similar to a violin string. Open when brea ...

by not

speaking Speech is the use of the human voice as a medium for language. Spoken language combines vowel and consonant sounds to form units of meaning like words, which belong to a language's lexicon. There are many different intentional speech acts, su ...

and

singing Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

typically following viral infections that cause hoarseness in the voice, such as the

common cold The common cold, or the cold, is a virus, viral infectious disease of the upper respiratory tract that primarily affects the Respiratory epithelium, respiratory mucosa of the human nose, nose, throat, Paranasal sinuses, sinuses, and larynx. ...

influenza Influenza, commonly known as the flu, is an infectious disease caused by influenza viruses. Symptoms range from mild to severe and often include fever, runny nose, sore throat, muscle pain, headache, coughing, and fatigue. These sympto ...

or more serious vocal disorders such as chorditis or laryngitis. Vocal rest is also recommended after surgery to removal of vocal fold lesions, such as vocal fold cysts. In many other cases however, vocal rest is used by actors before a show by not speaking to rest their voice to get its full potential come show time. The purpose of vocal rest is to hasten recovery time. It is believed that vocal rest, along with rehydration, will significantly decrease recovery time after a cold. It is generally believed, however, that if one needs to communicate one should speak and not whisper. The reasons for this differ; some believe that whispering merely does not allow the voice to rest and may have a dehydrating effect, while others hold that whispering can cause additional stress to the

larynx The larynx (), commonly called the voice box, is an organ (anatomy), organ in the top of the neck involved in breathing, producing sound and protecting the trachea against food aspiration. The opening of larynx into pharynx known as the laryngeal ...

References

Singing Human voice {{treatment-stub