What Is Voice Rest?
Voice rest refers to the temporary cessation of voice use. The purpose of voice rest is to allow healing of the tissue covering the vocal folds that has been damaged. Such injuries are most commonly caused by excessive or improper voice use (such as speaking or shouting loudly for long periods, intense crying, singing while ill, or performing vocally demanding tasks), or as a result of surgical procedures involving the vocal folds.
How Is Voice Rest Performed?
During voice rest, the individual must not use their voice in any way.
This means not only refraining from speaking, but also avoiding whispering, humming, singing, or whistling. In addition, behaviors that may irritate the vocal folds—such as throat clearing and coughing—should be avoided.
How Long Should Voice Rest Last?
The duration of voice rest varies depending on the individual and the degree of vocal fold injury, but it generally ranges from 3 to 10 days.
After the period of voice rest, voice therapy may be necessary to help modify improper voice use habits and prevent re-injury to the vocal folds.
Voice Rest After Vocal Surgery
Following microsurgery of the vocal folds, patients are typically advised to observe complete voice rest for a period of 3 to 10 days. The goal during this period is complete silence—no use of the voice whatsoever.
After this stage, a gradual reintroduction of voice use begins, referred to as the partial voice rest phase.
The recommended duration of voice rest, the schedule for gradual voice reintroduction, and post-surgical vocal care are not standardized. These parameters are determined individually for each patient based on factors such as the type and extent of the surgical intervention, the location and nature of the lesion, the patient’s vocal demands, and the level of voice use prior to surgery.
Before surgery, during preoperative voice therapy sessions, patients are thoroughly instructed on how to follow voice rest and how to transition safely back to voice use.
For professional voice users (such as singers, actors, teachers, or call center employees) and for patients with large or deep-seated vocal fold lesions, the transition back to unrestricted voice use after surgery may take 30 to 60 days.