Dear Vocalisters:
I would like to share a remarkable experience I witnessed with the
use of acupuncture to habilitate a voice that was suffering from
swollen vocal folds. A fine soprano was singing a leading role for
the Arizona Opera and between the Tucson and Phoenix performances
she came to visit us in Flagstaff. The day before returning to
Phoenix for the final performances she awoke with a very low voice
and the usual congestion that accompanies the beginning of a
bronchial infection. We were able to arrange a short session with an
acupuncturist/oriental medicine practitioner in Flagstaff in the
morning and an exam by an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat MD) in the
afternoon.
The acupuncturist did not have time to do a complete acupuncture
treatment because of his scheduled appointments but, in lieu of this,
gave a pressure point treatment in his waiting room. The soprano
received immediate improvement in her vocal fold swelling and was
able to phonate in an almost normal manner. He encouraged her to
apply pressure to these points herself and scheduled a more complete
acupuncture treatment for the next morning. He also gave her a
Chinese herb mixture and instructed her to make a special tea with
them and take it every 2 hours.
The ENT confirmed that she had swollen vocal folds and that it was
likely caused by an infection. She prescribed a steroid treatment
which she felt would substantially reduce the swelling and make a
performance the next night possible. The ENT also said it might be
possible to hold off taking the steroid treatment until 6 hours
before the performance and still obtain satisfactory results. But
she warned that the singer would need to continue the steroid
treatment for its 8 or 9 day completion because serious side effects
could result if she did not complete the treatment in the prescribed
time.
The soprano decided to not fill the prescription but rather to try
the acupuncture treatment and keep the steroid treatment in reserve.
Consequently, she continued taking the tea at the prescribed
intervals and slept most of the day. She was much better the next
morning and after the acupuncture treatment, almost back to normal.
Her performance that night gave no indication of her having had any
difficulty with swollen vocal folds and her performance two days
later was even better.
A post-script to this is that immediately after her last performance
she flew to Canada for a series of aria concerts with full orchestra.
Her health held throughout all of this but she found it was helpful
to self administer the pressure points treatment. The infection
never did gain an ongoing hold on her system.
The acupuncturist told her his treatment would stimulate her
auto-immune system to fight the infection and swelling and that, if
caught in time, it would eliminate the infection. That, apparently,
is exactly what happened.
Since this experience my wife and I have referred many of our
students to acupuncture treatments for similar vocal difficulties and
these students have had an almost 100% successful experience in
eliminating congestion, swollen cords and alergy problems.
I do not suggest that acupuncture should replace seeing a physician
because acupuncture is, in my understanding of it, more of a
treatment and less of a diagnosis. I always want to have a better
idea of what is happening physically and why and how it came into
being. Much of the traditional explanations for the success of
acupuncture such as energy flow points, chakras (sp?) etc. do not
define, for me, a logical explanation primarily because there is no
medical research of which I am aware that supports the very existence
of these energy fields. I tend to want research that is well
documented before I feel a proper explanation can be extrapolated.
But, there is no doubt, from my experience, that acupuncture,
properly administrated, can be very useful to performers and help
them avoid the difficulties that are often present with the
administration of many forms of drug therapy.
--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy, Emeritus
Director of Opera-Theatre, 1987-1997
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ 86011
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