“It breaks my heart.” Bad news for Charlotte Cardin fans. In an Instagram story, the singer announced that she would no longer be able to perform at the next festivals where she was expected, due to health reasons. And not the least, since it is his voice that seems touched.
An “injury” of the vocal cords
The artist had already canceled several festivals since August, notably in Belgium, Poland and Hungary. She still hoped to continue her concerts in France. The problem? A breathless voice.
“I have a vocal cord injury which has already forced me to cancel several concerts and which, unfortunately, is not healing quickly enough to allow me to resume concerts this summer.”
The artist had already suffered from loss of voice during a concert on August 5. Probably the sign of an inevitable break.
“I must continue my vocal rest and give my vocal cords time to heal before I can go back on stage,” she shared, following the recommendations of her doctors, before apologizing:
“I am deeply sorry and sad about the situation. It breaks my heart to have to cancel once again and not be able to be with you. Thank you for your patience and understanding.”
“We can talk about vocal overwork”
So, what could such an injury hide? It is impossible to know precisely the singer’s diagnosis without additional medical information, but several lesions can be considered.
“The context is important: Charlotte Cardin is currently giving a lot of concerts, so she is in a context of intense work, without necessarily having much vocal rest between each concert,” explains Marie Mailly, ENT and phoniatrician to True Medical
We can then speak of vocal overwork, that is to say an absence of sufficiently restorative vocal rest between each vocal effort. To this can be added general fatigue: on tour, we sometimes sleep poorly, we promote in the evening, we spend the night in transport, we are stressed…
As for the “injury”, “there are two hypotheses here”, continues the specialist.
First possibility: a hematoma of a vocal cord
“It may be a
hematoma of a vocal cord.
In a context of significant vocal demand, the small vessels located on the vocal cords can increase in volume. They then become like small varicose veins. The medical term is vascular ectasia.
Then, during a particularly intense effort – a long, loud note, a demanding concert… – one of these small varicose veins can rupture. Blood then diffuses into the vocal cord: this is the hematoma.
“It turns all red and above all it becomes rigid, which prevents you from singing,” explains Marie Mailly.
In this case, the only thing to do is to wait for the blood to resolve naturally. “Like when you have a bruise under the skin that takes several days or even weeks to disappear”compares the expert.
This takes on average at least ten days. And above all, it is essential to wait until the hematoma has resolved before resuming singing. “under penalty of the latter evolving into a polyp”she warns.
Another possibility: nodules or a pseudocyst
Another hypothesis: a raised lesion due to repeated trauma to the vocal cords, what doctors call phonotrauma.
These may include nodules or a serous pseudocyst.
“These are lesions such as an induration or a small blister on one or both vocal cords. Just like a blister or induration might develop on a foot when our skin rubs too much in a shoe,” explains Marie Mailly.
In this case, the lesion prevents the two vocal cords from touching properly when singing. Result: it becomes impossible to sing normally.
“The treatment is rest: by reducing repeated trauma, the lesions will normally regress.”
The evolution of these lesions is, however, a little more uncertain than that of a hematoma. “Sometimes it may be necessary to remove them during surgery, cold”specifies the specialist.
© Instagram Charlotte Cardin
Vocal rest, essential for healing
In both cases, treatment is therefore primarily based on rest.
“The treatment of both ‘injuries’ of the vocal cords is primarily rest, to give the vocal cords time to heal”insists Marie Mailly.
To explain this necessity, ENT uses a comparison with sport: “I often use the comparison with the athlete who hurts his knee. It would never occur to him to play the day after an injury.”
For a singer who regularly performs on stage, agreeing to stop everything can be particularly difficult. But restarting too quickly can actually aggravate the injury and prolong recovery.
Reflux, dehydration, stress… factors that can weaken the voice
It is also necessary to look for possible factors that may have contributed to the injury in addition to vocal overwork.
“We must also eliminate anything that could have been contributing factors, adding to vocal overwork: gastric reflux, dehydration, stress, allergies, possibly tobacco.” explains Marie Mailly.
General fatigue can also affect recovery, especially when concerts are linked to travel and short nights.
Is there a medicine to speed up healing?
Can we take treatment to help the vocal cords heal more quickly? “There is none”, replies the specialist.
Corticosteroids can sometimes reduce inflammation and allow a singer to perform in concert. But they do not promote healing.
“Sometimes it’s even the opposite: with their ‘doping’ effect, they prevent the singer from feeling his limits and risk further promoting vocal trauma”,
she explains.
On the other hand, physiological serum nebulizations can moisten the vocal cords and provide some comfort.
“This is the only treatment that I recommend to patients, in addition to rest and good hydration.”
Cancel to better find your voice
For Marie Mailly, Charlotte Cardin is therefore adopting the right behavior by choosing to continue her vocal rest.
“Have the courage to cancel your concerts to rest, even if this is not easy for a singer. This is the only solution to avoid possible surgery and return to singing as quickly as possible, after recovery.”
Because the singers are subjected to a particularly demanding rhythm. “To return to the analogy of athletes: they have several days of rest between each important match, which seems normal to us; but very few singers have several days off between concerts.”
A decision which, we hope, will allow him to sing Feel Good as soon as possible.