Your sinuses may also swell as your vocal cords swell when you cry. As you know, your voice may sound worse than it is due to nasal congestion caused by this situation.
But of course, this is not the only reason for the change in tone of voice when crying. So what could be the other reasons for this situation?
Crying for a long time can wear down the vocal cords.
Crying for too long can also damage the vocal cords in babies. This has the same effect in adults, leading to bifurcation of the voice. Thus, your voice may sound quieter than it is. Sometimes many people wonder why their throats swell after crying for a long time.
Namely; Since the autonomic nervous system (representing involuntary movements) activates the sympathetic nervous system (which is active in stressful situations), our body awakens the fight-or-flight response when we cry. This reaction prevents us from performing many functions, including eating and drinking, only for the moment.
Here, the swelling of the throat is caused by the swelling of the glottis (medical name for the middle part where the vocal cords are located), located in the opening between the vocal cords. Because when this swells, the throats also feel full and tense. Even Dr. According to Patricia Salber, the reason this occurs is due to our body’s instinct to protect us from harm. In other words, the body is actually fighting to prevent mucus or tears from entering the lungs.
Clearing the throat (you can think of it as clearing the vocal cords) so that your voice sounds normal when you cry is actually not a good thing.
Some artists express that when they cry on stage, they first take a deep breath instead of trying to control their voice. Because the breathing taken during this time can stop the crying for a little bit, and the voice can gradually return to normal.
Another reason is the stretching of the jaw muscles.
When you cry, you may feel that your jaw is contracting and that you have difficulty even speaking because of this. In fact, this is due to a physiological response of the body to the emotional problem it is experiencing.
In such a situation, it would be better to calm down and then start talking, rather than clenching your jaw further in an effort to speak properly.
Not to mention that your face crumples when you cry.
As your tears continue to flow from your face, your facial muscles also come into play. Thus, if you try to speak because you unintentionally grimace, your voice may sound more sad and thin. Also, being out of breath in such a situation is not good for the voice. As we mentioned above, one of the most effective ways to control the vocal cords is to control the breath, that is, the diaphragm (chest cavity).
Sources: Quora, Self, Judy Rodman, Healthline, The Cut, Live Science, Independent
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