Voice Physiotherapy New Zealand

14/07/2025

Muscle of the Month Series: The Scalene Muscles 💪
The scalenes are a group of three muscles (anterior, middle, and posterior) located on the sides of the neck. They play a key role in breathing, posture, and thus vocal function.
🔹 Breathing: The scalenes assist in lifting the ribcage during inhalation, helping with deep breaths—but overuse can lead to neck tension and restricted airflow.
🔹 Head, Neck & Posture: These muscles stabilize and move the neck, but excessive tension can pull the head forward, impacting vocal ease and alignment.
🔹 Impact on Voice: Tight scalenes can impact the general freedom and mobility of the anterior neck and laryngeal area. This can restrict mobility and can create a sensation of throat tightness.
🔹 Pain Referral: Trigger points in the scalenes can cause pain in the neck, shoulders, chest, and anterior neck.

Stay tuned for our next video, where we’ll share a simple exercise to release scalene tension and improve your vocal freedom! 📣

🚨 This post is for informational purposes only. If you have voice or health concerns, consult a qualified healthcare professional.

07/07/2025

I had the best time talking all things alignment at the New Zealand Singing Teachers Association Conference last week and mixed it up with a surprise circuit workout 🏋️‍♀️A couple of my own legendary singing teachers were in the room which was such a joy, as well as many colleagues and friends from the voice world. Nga Mihi for inviting me to be a part of it 🎶

10/06/2025

The finish line is in sight 🏃‍♀️
With less than 100 days to go until my PhD thesis is due, I had the opportunity to talk about my journey with a rep from Otago University a couple of weeks ago. It has just been published in the July edition of the Health Sciences Newsletter. You can check it out by following the link below

As one of only two practising voice physiotherapists in New Zealand, PhD candidate Kristina Hockey is on a mission to have patients’ voices heard.

23/05/2025

Announcing our winter pop-up clinic dates 📣
Online bookings are open now at www.voicephysionz.com
Did you know our email list gets to know about pop-up clinics before anyone else? To be added to the list for your area, send us a message through the contact form on our website.

14/05/2025

🎤Muscle of the Month Series: The Tongue Root 💪
The suprahyoid muscles (a.k.a. the tongue root) play a crucial role in voice production. The suprahyoid muscles include the digastric, stylohyoid, mylohyoid, and geniohyoid muscles. These muscles link the hyoid bone to the jaw, skull, and tongue. Due to these attachment points, they play a crucial role in both vocal function and swallowing.
🔹Elevate the larynx, which is essential for both vocal function and swallowing.
🔹Stabilize the hyoid bone (alongside the infrahyoid muscles), which is key for the efficiency of the vocal folds.
🔹Influences overall vocal production and assists in controlling pitch during vocalizing (as we raise in pitch and elongate the vocal folds, the larynx raises too)
🔹Plays an assistive role in the articulation process (making sounds into words)
Stay tuned for our next video, where we’ll share a simple exercise to release omohyoid tension and optimize your vocal function! 📣

🚨 This post is for informational purposes only. If you have voice concerns, consult a qualified healthcare professional 🚨

14/04/2025

A really interesting article from RNZ about how Physiotherapists could help take some of the load off of GPs by being able to prescribe off work certificates. Worth a read ⬇️

Physiotherapists say patients are waiting too long to be allowed to return to work due to long GP wait times.

Full story ⬇️

14/04/2025

🎤 Muscle of the Month Series: The Omohyoid Muscle 💪

The omohyoid is a laryngeal muscle that connects the scapula (shoulder blade) to the larynx. Due to its attachment points, it plays a crucial role in vocal function and swallowing.

🔹 Breathing: Helps stabilize the hyoid bone, influencing airflow and breath support during singing or speaking.
🔹 Head, Neck & Posture: Works with other laryngeal and neck muscles to maintain both head and laryngeal positioning.
🔹 Swallowing: Aids in lowering the hyoid bone after swallowing, helping reset the throat for the next breath or vocalization.
🔹 Impact on Vocal Quality: When overly tight, it can pull on the hyoid bone, restricting laryngeal movement and reducing vocal flexibility.
🔹 Pain Referral: Excess tension may contribute to throat and neck discomfort, sometimes mimicking throat tightness or strain.

Stay tuned for our next video, where we’ll share a simple exercise to release omohyoid tension and optimize your vocal function! 📣



🚨 This post is for informational purposes only. If you have voice or health concerns, consult a qualified healthcare professional.

14/04/2025

The big smiles say it all 😁 I was so privileged to do a couple of workshops across NZ with this month and had a blast working with these talented performers. As always, when I do a workshop, I come with information to share, but I always come away feeling like I'm the one who has learned something from the attendees. Ngā mihi nui go all those who came and to Equity New Zealand for the work you do supporting Kiwi Performers 🎵

31/03/2025

🎤✨ Join our 7-Day Vocal Care Challenge this week, for the first week of April✨🎤 Each day this week, follow the daily tips, exercises, or habits and add them to your voice care routine. Let’s start off our April vocal health routine with a running start! 💪🎶

24/03/2025

Looking for a way to avoid vocal fatigue?😴

Did you know that you can use an RPE (Rate of Perceived Exertion) scale in your singing practice?

RPE is a scale commonly used across many activities including exercise and sports to help monitor effort. In the context of voice, it measures vocal effort on a 1–10 scale. It can be a useful tool to help you build self-awareness, help manage vocal load and prevent strain.

How to Use RPE in Practice:
• Warm-up & Cool-down (RPE 2–4): Gentle exercises to prepare/recover.
• Technique & Repertoire (RPE 4–6): Build skills without strain.
• High-Intensity Singing (RPE 7–8): Use sparingly, balancing with lower RPE work.
• Recovery (RPE 1–3): Rest if your voice feels fatigued.

How to use RPE to maintain and monitor vocal health?
• Avoid prolonged RPE 8+ to prevent overload and tension.
• If effort increases for the same task, it may signal fatigue, which might mean its
time to take a rest. If this continues, go and seek input from a voice professional

Give this tool a try in your practice this week and see if you can observe your RPE throughout your warm-up, technique practice and rep practice.

Give this tool a try in your practice this week and see if you can observe your RPE throughout your warm-up, technique practice, and rep practice.voice practitioner for a check up.

10/03/2025

🎤Muscle of the Month Series: The Sternocleidomastoid Muscle (SCM) 💪

You may have noticed in our previous video that the SCM is not connected to the voice box (it runs from the sternum and clavicle to the skull). Though your SCM muscle isn;t directly involved in producing sound, it does play a supporting role in vocalizing.

🔹 Breathing: Due to its attachment to the Sternum, it is an accessory breathing muscle and can help lift the ribcage when you need a big breath— this can be very useful, but it shouldn’t take over! It is an accessory breathing muscle after all.
🔹Head and Neck Posture: The SCMS turns, flexes, and leans our head to the side. This is essential for helping our head and neck positioning and body alignment.
🔹 Impact on Vocal Quality: Because of the SCMs proximity to the larynx, excess activation due to body alignment or upper chest breathing can lead to feelings of constriction and can make your voice feel tight.
🔹 Pain referral: If the SCM carries excess tension, it can refer pain to the head and face, and sometimes tension in the SCM can present as headache symptoms.

Stay tuned for our next video, where we will discuss a simple exercise you can do to maximize your vocal function by caring for your SCMs 📣
🚨 This post is for informational purposes only.
If you have voice or health concerns, chat with a qualified healthcare professional

07/03/2025

🎶🎭 The Next Pop-up clinic dates are here 🎭🎶

Time for a Vocal WOF? Online bookings are now open for our upcoming pop-up clinics in the North Island ⭐

📅 4th-8th April and 26th-27th May
📍 Wellington and Auckland
🔗 www.voicephysionz.com

As always, there are limited spaces available—secure your appointment today!